MUBI

Just as Bach’s set of preludes and fugues encompasses a number of styles, A Christmas Tale delivers a fair amount of dark comedy mixed with well tempered melodrama in the highly literate story of a French family gathering for the holidays. There are two foils to the reunion: one is that the matriarch Junon (Denueve) is in need of a bone marrow transplant and the other is that the two potential donors are her disowned son Henri (Mathieu Amalric) and her disturbed grandson Paul. Each of the characters, not just the aforementioned, is just a little out there… well, except for Henri, whose persona as the family black sheep is way out. (He’s the clavier). We know that he was banished from the family by his sister Elizabeth, a depressed playwright and Paul’s mother, yet the reasons are never made quite clear, so the film becomes a mystery of sorts that’s never satisfactorily resolved. Meanwhile we catch glimpses of the entire family’s dysfunction – Henri & Elizabeth’s good-natured younger brother Ivan, his devoted wife Sylvia, and their two little boys; the sedate paterfamilias Abel, the lovelorn cousin Simon, and Elizabeth’s skittish husband Claude. Over the course of the days leading up to Christmas they carry on in all manner of feckless behavior ranging from bickering and adultery to statistical analysis rendered on a chalkboard. The directorial technique is unusual for this type of film, including the use of split screens, irises to bridge scenes, and breaking the fourth wall, the latter of which is used to good effect, i.e sparingly and skillfully performed. Ultimately it’s the performances that make this an unexpected but decent film about an unlikely but likable gang of kooks. From them we learn about the pain of isolation and that blood is thicker than personal animosity.

From the moment it started, it was pretty clear this film was made for me. It’s French with some of the most magnificent actors the country has to offer and centers around a dysfunctional family coming together through Christmas and all of the emotion and humor that comes along with that. As someone who hails from a dysfunctional family, I always love watching films like this because the entire ambience always creates a warm, comfortable, familiar feeling with me. I find investing in these people an effortless experience and having such a large connection with every character on the screen makes all of the emotions throughout even more beautiful, upsetting, hilarious and joyous. This marvelous cast of layered, diverse and entirely human characters creates an experience unlike any other that has me head over heels in love.

Like in his ‘05 film (another of my all time favorites) Kings & Queen, Arnaud Desplechin’s extraordinary talent is well on display here, again demonstrating the fact that he is one of the most unique, brilliant writer/directors working in cinema today. He takes topics that most other directors would let fall into melodrama and makes them feel human and authentic instead, fully engaging the viewer in the lives of his characters. A matriarch of a large family dying of cancer, the loss of a young child in the family, a sister who banishes her brother from being apart of the life of her or her family; these are all topics that scream melodrama on the surface, but in Desplechin’s world they feel natural instead of artificial, begging for theatrics.

It’s no surprise that the cast here is phenomenal. All of them are individually impressive, but they shine brightest when you look at the ensemble as a whole. Desplechin creates a universe here that flows so naturally, each actor working as a cell to create the full organism. These aren’t actors portraying characters in a film; they are real people behaving authentically in their own lives. Each character has their own unique traits, but unlike other films of this nature, it’s clear that this is a real family. Yes they are all different, but at their core they are all the same. Mathieu Amalric shines brightest as Henri, the aforementioned banished son who is a fireball that isn’t afraid to speak every inappropriate thought on his mind. Amalric portrays him as an energetic child almost, with this deep inner pain hiding just beneath the surface. This is further proof that the man is a talent unlike any other and is seemingly incapable of giving a performance less than stellar. He isn’t the only one that shines, though, as everyone here is a vital part of the machine. Particularly impressive aside from Amalric are Anne Consigny, Chiara Mastroianni, Melvil Poupaud, Emmanuelle Devos and Catherine Deneuve. Which sounds like I just listed off the whole cast, but that isn’t even half of the wonderful ensemble on display here.

In short, A Christmas Tale is a rare treat where every little aspect of the film hits it’s mark, creating an overall picture that is beyond perfection. It’s a delight in every way, creating a blend of comedy and human emotion that had me in laughter and tears simultaneously. Desplechin has created a beautiful, entirely unique look at romance, family, death and all of the turmoil that comes with every kind of love. Him and his cast take a deep look into these characters, examining every inner feeling they have and approaching their love of life, family and significant others as if they were presenting themselves to the viewer. I don’t hesitate to call it a masterwork, and the best film of 2008.

The film had been given free from a suscription to the Stella Artois beer company, I saw it a few days ago having had the release of the film during the 61st Cannes film festival in 2008. I myself had been in France that year studying with a chance to see music, but really I had not gone to the film festival.
I saw the film and thought highly of it, I really found the comedy aspect good to watch and surely the appearance fo a bad guy from a James Bond film, being a character from the film Quantom of Solace plays a good role worth seeing in this French speaking film. I find a family film as such really worth seeing, and without a doubt I’d advice it to others, for real a true good comedy, one of a million.

Intellectualisme pénible, verbeux, pompeux – 31/01/2009

Desplechin est l’auteur d’oeuvres méditatives et anxiogènes. Ce conte de noël est une sarabande étrange et déroutante sur le règlement de compte familial où l’ironie règne en maître. Reste que l’ensemble à du mal à évoluer et que l’ironie, la cruauté, la dérision soufflent beaucoup d’esbroufe , de froideur et d’ennui sur ce jeu de massacre indigeste. Oui Desplechin est un virtuose de la caméra, des acteurs, des répliques. Oui, ça n’empêche pas son film de rester froid, glaçant d’intellectualisme névrosé, horripilant, hystérique même parfois.