Un conte de Noël (2008)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

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's shared history of physical and mental illness, estrangement, self harm, and loss doesn't lead itself to the idea of a cheerful holiday season. But can a Christmastime reunion, a scheme concocted by three of the youngest family members, finally bring peace their clan? |

Plot Keywords:

Schizophrenia | France | Family Relationships | Alcoholic | Bone Marrow Transplant

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mathieu Bakanina	...	Le prêtre
Thierry Bosc	...	La procureur
Marie-France Jankula	...	La fille
Jean-Pierre Jouet	...	Le président des experts
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	L'ami franc maçon
Beata Nilska
François Regnault	...	L'analyste
Hélène Roussel	...	Le juge
Hélène Darras	...	La vendeuse (uncredited)
David Frenkel	...	Avocat d'Elizabeth (uncredited)
Romain Goupil	...	(uncredited)
Miglen Mirtchev	...	L'avocat d'Henri (uncredited)

Directed by
Arnaud Desplechin

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

Produced by
Pascal Caucheteux	....	producer

Original Music by
Grégoire Hetzel

Cinematography by
Eric Gautier

Film Editing by
Laurence Briaud

Production Design by
Dan Bevan

Makeup Department
Sylvie Aid	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Edouard Decker	....	unit production manager
David Edouard	....	assistant unit manager
Anne Farrer	....	assistant unit manager
Jean-Patrick Nourricier	....	assistant unit manager
Benoît Pilot	....	production manager
Isabelle Tillou	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alexandre Nazarian	....	assistant director: documentary
Frédéric Nicolas	....	first assistant director
Gabriele Roux	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Toma Baqueni	....	graphic artist

Sound Department
Nicolas Cantin	....	sound editor
Nicolas Cantin	....	sound
Roland Duboué	....	assistant sound editor
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sylvain Malbrant	....	sound
Julien Sicart	....	additional sound
Julien Sicart	....	boom operator
Jean-Alexandre Villemer	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Peregrine MacCafferty	....	digital artist: mac guff ligne
Patrick Siboni	....	flame artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Éric Alirol	....	electrician
Néwine Behi	....	first assistant camera
Arnaud Carney	....	second assistant camera
Malek Krimed	....	assistant camera
Kareem La Vaullée	....	Steadicam operator
Fabienne Octobre	....	first assistant camera
Dougé Raphaël	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Isabelle Julien	....	color grader
Laurencina Lam	....	post-production assistant
Tuong Vi Nguyen-Long	....	assistant editor

Production Companies

• Why Not Productions

Distributors

• Camera Film (2008) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Pachamama Cine (2009) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2008) (Finland) (all media)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• IFC Films (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Imovision (2008) (Brazil) (all media)
• Independent Film Channel (IFC) (2008) (USA) (TV)

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 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Roubaix, Nord, France

Company:

Why Not Productions

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.