Un dimanche à la campagne (1984)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Bertrand Tavernier

Writers:

Pierre Bost (novel)
Bertrand Tavernier (writer)

Release Date:

11 April 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In France, before WWI. As every Sunday, an old painter living in the country is visited by his son Gonzague...

Plot Keywords:

Painter | Little Girl | Visit | Father Daughter Relationship | Period Piece

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Louis Ducreux	...	Monsieur Ladmiral
Michel Aumont	...	Gonzague
Sabine Azéma	...	Irène (as Sabine Azema)
Geneviève Mnich	...	Marie-Thérèse (as Genevieve Mnich)
Monique Chaumette	...	Mercédès
Thomas Duval	...	Emile
Quentin Ogier	...	Lucien
Katia Wostrikoff	...	Mireille
Claude Winter	...	Madame Ladmiral
Jean-Roger Milo	...	Fisherman (Le pêcheur)
Pascale Vignal	...	A servant (La serveuse)
Jacques Poitrenaud	...	Hector (Patron guinguette)
Valentine Suard	...	Little girl (La petite fille 1)
Erika Faivre	...	Little girl (La petite fille 2)
Marc Perrone	...	Accordionist (L'accordéoniste)

Also Known As:

A Sunday in the Country

Runtime:

90 min | Sweden:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:G | West Germany:6

Company:

Films A2

Soundtrack:

Quatuor pour piano et cores Op. 121

The dark side of the sun.

A lot of people consider it Tavernier's best .

An old man lives in the country in a desirable property.He waits for his children's visit .Whereas his son ,Gonzague,who lives a bourgeois life with wife and kids frequently turns up,his daughter Irene , a socialite ,a woman ahead of her time is often too busy in Paris to remember his old papa.

On a clear sunny day,they all gather in the father's house .Suddenly the house does not look that much cozy.The novel on which the movie is based is called "Mr Ladmiral Va Bientôt Mourir" (M.Ladmiral is soon going to die)and Death shows beneath the placid surface : a terrifying vision of the old man on his death bed -there is a similar scene in John Huston's last work-;a fleeting souvenir of a picnic in the garden where they used to eat (wild?) strawberries;more prosaically,when the family arrives near the church,they can hear "Nearer to thee ,my God" (the Titanic band's canticle!).

The admirable sequence in the Guinguettes displays not only Tavernier's tribute to Auguste Renoir,but also his love for the true masters of the French cinema:Auguste's son Jean ("Une Partie de Campagne") ,Julien Duvivier ("La Belle Equipe") and Jacques Becker ("Casque d'or").

This is a brilliant movie by the man who is perhaps the greatest living French director.His command of the picture is so fascinating that even the frequent voice -overs are not redundant.

Like this?Try these.......

Make way for tomorrow Leo McCarey 1937

Une Partie de Campagne Jean Renoir 1936

Wild Strawberries Ingmar Bergman 1957

Eglantine Jean Claude Brialy 1971

The dead John Huston 1987