A Christmas Tale

aka: Un conte de Noël
France 2008, 150 minutes
Dir. Arnaud Desplechin
In French with English subtitles
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama / Christmas

Feat. Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Hippolyte Girardot, Emmanuelle Devos, Chiara Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud, Jean-Paul Roussillon

Aroview: KINGS AND QUEEN dir. Arnaud Desplechin spins another whirlwind tale of family relations, with Catherine Deneuve the terminally ill matriarch to a clan of bickering siblings gathered for yuletide celebrations.

At first glance a French-take on the American Christmas movie, Desplechin’s skilful, often dexterous handling of characters and scenarios elevates the material above its conventional form. While the results here aren’t as hazardous – and thus, exciting – as in the director’s previous work, the sheer exuberance of the filmmaking belies the weightiness that French Cinema might have otherwise imbued this tragic-comic ensemble piece with. The choice cast also helps: Mathieu Almaric and Anne Consigny (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) play the estranged brother and sister at loggerheads in the midst of a family crisis.

NZ International Film Festival 2009

Member Reviews

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4 stars (Very Good) A rambling but never uninteresting film about family and the bonds that keep us tied. A very honest portrait of a family Christmas gathering and topped off by always luminous Catherine Deneuve as the family matriarch, this is a film to savour. ~The Myrka