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Revu sur ARTE, cycle en ligne Arnaud Desplechin X cycle Cannes 2022.

Official selection in competition, Cannes 2008

A very well done "family reunion" movie, with its multitude of strained characters relationships, the resulting frictions, inherited angst, drama and comedy, thanks to secrets revealed or waiting to be.
A strong point in terms of family drama is the honest representation of a family: people don't innately like each other simply because they were born from each other or share the same name. Going in the same way, the central hate of a sister, the alternatively collected and hysterical but consistently hateful Anne Consigny, for her brother, the aloof Amalric doing his usual Desplechin character, is notably never explained.

All the main actors, mostly Desplechin's regulars, get to shine and Deneuve as the central guest of honour is a welcome addition. It's just a bit sad that it's nothing as peculiar as the director's previous works.

Of note: numerous references, from an evident Vertigo replay to the many mentions of A Midsommer Night's Dream.
And a lot of "cinéma fanciness" (a taste for circular transitions like Truffaut, small breaks to other periods of time, various narration styles like face-camera reading, etc) to repel some and lure others.

Score: 8/10 (+2)
Enjoyment: 3/5
Very good, probably Desplechin's overall best film.

Favourite moment: Claude (H.Girardot)'s statistics scene.

Des analyses intéressantes:
www.cineclubdecaen.com/realisateur/desplechin/uncontedenoel.htm
journals.openedition.org/clio/10318