I rented this in December and failed to watch it. After seeing it in the Time Out Paris Best French Films list I decided to go back to it now instead of waiting until next winter.

The relatively un-Christmassy story of a fucked-up upper-middle-class family brought back together by the illness of its matriarch (Catherine Deneuve), this is Wes Anderson and Jonathan Franzen territory. This film lacked the style of the former and most of the wit of either, so I found that its two-and-a-half hours dragged. However, I can understand that some people may like this more understated, not-quite-realist approach.

It didn't help that I only liked one of the characters, Henri (Mattheiu Amalric, whose performance which has been…

Arnaud Desplechin whom is a director I am completely unfamiliar with impressed me here with this highly lauded film of family dysfunctionality. Though it is no where near the holiday tale that the title and posters perceive it to be, it is still a multi-layered plot with great dialogue and a variety of complex and strange bunch of characters.

Catherine Deneuve never ceases to amaze me as she can continue to keep performing and does not appear to be loosing any steam in her later years. Her output is work loaded as she averages about 2 to 3 films a year. As she pushes 70 come next year she still looks wonderful for her age and it was just delightful…

Catherine Deneuve's cancer diagnosis brings her splintered family unit back together for the holidays, but as they come together, the films itself comes undone. The core story of the diametrically opposed brother and sister characters and how they impact the rest of the family is an interesting one and played very well by the two actors, but unfortunately it gets muddled by several other competing stories that are either less interesting or are completely nonsensical, coming from out of nowhere (we actually looked at each other and said "where the heck did that come from" on more than one occasion). Also, can someone explain the pinhole camera technique, or whatever it is called, used at various points by the director…

I am an only child from a family that has almost never experienced much conflict. When I was young, I often wondered why my friends would fight with their siblings so often. Sure, squabbles for a parent's attention or for getting an equal share of something have a certain degree of psychological rationality to them, but at the end of the day, the fighting seemed to be completely habitual, as if it was ingrained in the genetic make-up of the ceaselessly feuding siblings.

What I love about this film is the way it illustrates the patent absurdity of these family feuds without ever trivializing the emotions that fuel them. Henri continually pleads Elizabeth to give him a reason for why…

I am an only child from a family that has almost never experienced much conflict. When I was young, I often wondered why my friends would fight with their siblings so often. Sure, squabbles for a parent's attention or for getting an equal share of something have a certain degree of psychological rationality to them, but at the end of the day, the fighting seemed to be completely habitual, as if it was ingrained in the genetic make-up of the ceaselessly feuding siblings.

What I love about this film is the way it illustrates the patent absurdity of these family feuds without ever trivializing the emotions that fuel them. Henri continually pleads Elizabeth to give him a reason for why…

I rented this in December and failed to watch it. After seeing it in the Time Out Paris Best French Films list I decided to go back to it now instead of waiting until next winter.

The relatively un-Christmassy story of a fucked-up upper-middle-class family brought back together by the illness of its matriarch (Catherine Deneuve), this is Wes Anderson and Jonathan Franzen territory. This film lacked the style of the former and most of the wit of either, so I found that its two-and-a-half hours dragged. However, I can understand that some people may like this more understated, not-quite-realist approach.

It didn't help that I only liked one of the characters, Henri (Mattheiu Amalric, whose performance which has been…

Catherine Deneuve's cancer diagnosis brings her splintered family unit back together for the holidays, but as they come together, the films itself comes undone. The core story of the diametrically opposed brother and sister characters and how they impact the rest of the family is an interesting one and played very well by the two actors, but unfortunately it gets muddled by several other competing stories that are either less interesting or are completely nonsensical, coming from out of nowhere (we actually looked at each other and said "where the heck did that come from" on more than one occasion). Also, can someone explain the pinhole camera technique, or whatever it is called, used at various points by the director…

Arnaud Desplechin whom is a director I am completely unfamiliar with impressed me here with this highly lauded film of family dysfunctionality. Though it is no where near the holiday tale that the title and posters perceive it to be, it is still a multi-layered plot with great dialogue and a variety of complex and strange bunch of characters.

Catherine Deneuve never ceases to amaze me as she can continue to keep performing and does not appear to be loosing any steam in her later years. Her output is work loaded as she averages about 2 to 3 films a year. As she pushes 70 come next year she still looks wonderful for her age and it was just delightful…