Time Regained

Aroview: Legendary surrealist Chilean director Ruiz takes a break from his schedule or runaway obscurities (most sadly unavailable in NZ) for this legit costume drama - an elegant, hi-gloss take on the last book of Proust’s supposedly unfilmable auto-fictional cycle, studded with the cream of European acting talent.

But what really lifts it is Ruiz’s preparedness to push the film into the kind of strange territory that most Euro high-budget arthouse films would shy away from. His signature low-budget surrealist effects actually fit in beautifully with the early 20th century setting, and enhance the always-difficult enacting of the process of remembering central to the book and the film. Italian actor Marcello Mazzarella, a dead ringer for the real-life Proust, is impressive as the still, sad presence that guides the film.

NZ International Film Festival 2000