Un conte de Noël (2008)

Director:

Arnaud Desplechin

Writers:

Arnaud Desplechin (scenario and dialogue) &
Emmanuel Bourdieu (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

21 May 2008 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

The Vuillard family is no stranger to physical/mental illness, loss, and banishment. But when the matriarch becomes in need of a transplant, the whole family is forced to come together, emotional baggage and all, just in time for Christmas.

Plot Keywords:

Transplant | Bone Marrow Transplant | Christmas | Banishment | Northern France

Awards:

2 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Junon
Jean-Paul Roussillon	...	Abel, Junon's husband
Anne Consigny	...	Elizabeth, their oldest child
Mathieu Amalric	...	Henri, their middle child
Melvil Poupaud	...	Ivan, their youngest child
Hippolyte Girardot	...	Claude, Elizabeth's husband
Emmanuelle Devos	...	Faunia, Henri's lover
Chiara Mastroianni	...	Sylvia, Ivan's wife
Laurent Capelluto	...	Simon, Junon's nephew, the painter cousin
Emile Berling	...	Paull, Elizabeth and Claude's son
Thomas Obled	...	Basile, Ivan and Sylvia's son
Clément Obled	...	Baptiste, Ivan and Sylvia's son
Françoise Bertin	...	Rosaimée, Abel's mother's girlfriend
Samir Guesmi	...	Spatafora, the family friend at Roubaix
Azize Kabouche	...	Doctor Zraïdi, the oncologist

Also Known As:

A Christmas Tale (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

France:150 min | USA:150 min | Argentina:150 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | USA:Unrated | UK:15 | Sweden:7 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Roubaix, Nord, France

Company:

Why Not Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Faunia introduces herself to Abel in the foyer, she takes off her glasses and shakes his hand. In the very next shot, as Abel is greeting Henri, she removes her glasses again.

Movie Connections:

Features A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Pretentious and empty of contents and ideas

This film promised a lot, so many beautiful and well playing actors but with a plot that had virtually NOTHING to say. So many potentially promising conflicts between the family members that could have been developed and elaborated but it was all dropped and not taken care of. There was no story to be told, just a show off of acting, technique, beautiful scenes - that were all EMPTY. But again, the acting was excellent so many of the individual scenes were entertaining, but as you became increasingly aware of the lack of underpinning ideas, even the acting lost its sense. So from the promising start you became increasingly disappointed as the non-story went along.