Conversations with My Gardener

aka: Dialogue avec mon jardinier
France 2006, 109 minutes
Dir. Jean Becker
In French with English subtitles
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Comedy

Topics: Mid-life.

Feat. Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Fanny Cottencon

Aroview: Leisurely mateship comedy about a jilted artist (Auteuil) who retreats to his remote country home, forging a mid-life bond with a local gardener (Darrousin) post-divorce.

Quintessentially French, veterans Auteuil and Darrousin satisfy in a series of warm, laid back exchanges which imbue the film with a ‘lazy Sunday’ texture, despite some deeper meditations on the nature of friendship and male inadequacy. Like the garden the pair frequent and tender, Becker’s film is likely to grow on those who take pleasure in good company and conversation.

NZ International Film Festival 2007