Marcel Proust's Time Regained (1999)

A lush, elegant epic taking us on a time-swirling trip down the infinitely complex labyrinth that is Marcel Proust's memory lane.

Director:

Raoul Ruiz

Writers:

Marcel Proust (novel), Gilles Taurand (scenario)

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, Vincent Perez

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Odette de Crecy
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Gilberte
Vincent Perez	...	Morel
John Malkovich	...	Le Baron de Charlus
Pascal Greggory	...	Saint-Loup
Marcello Mazzarella	...	Marcel Proust
Marie-France Pisier	...	Madame Verdurin
Chiara Mastroianni	...	Albertine
Arielle Dombasle	...	Madame de Farcy
Edith Scob	...	Oriane de Guermantes
Elsa Zylberstein	...	Rachel
Christian Vadim	...	Bloch
Dominique Labourier	...	Madame Cottard
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	Monsieur Cottard
Melvil Poupaud	...	Le Prince de Foix

Storyline

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is on his deathbed. Looking at photographs brings memories of his childhood, his youth, his lovers, and the way the Great War put an end to a stratum of society. His memories are in no particular order, they move back and forth in time. Marcel at various ages interacts with Odette, with the beautiful Gilberte and her doomed husband, with the pleasure-seeking Baron de Charlus, with Marcel's lover Albertine, and with others; present also in memory are Marcel's beloved mother and grandmother. It seems as if to live is to remember and to capture memories is to create a work of great art. The memories parallel the final volume of Proust's novel.

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Plot Keywords:

oneiric | memory | proust | marcel proust | deathbed | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Connections

Referenced in Ricardo Aronovich, avec mes yeux de dinosaure du cinéma (2011)

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Soundtracks

Le temps retrouvé (Vocalise)
Written by Jorge Arriagada
Performed by Natalie Dessay (soprano)

User Reviews

A remarkable movie if you know Proust but aren't looking for him

If you're looking for a movie that faithfully reduces In Search of Lost Time to 2 hours or so, this isn't it. But then, that's impossible, so you will be frustrated in your search.

What this is is a problematic movie.

If you don't know Proust's 4000 page novel, In Search of Lost Time, I suspect a lot of this movie won't make sense to you. If you do know it, on the other hand, you might be upset that X does not look like Proust's character A, that Y scene was left out, etc.

So, the best way to enjoy this movie - and there is a lot in it to enjoy - is to know Proust's novel well enough so that you can make sense of the movie, but then to forget about it and treat this as a movie that is not trying to film Proust's novel.

I could go on about the way the film jumps from scene to scene based on recollections of the narrator. One might say that that's Proustian, but Proust does not in fact jump from one short scene to the next. So I'll leave that aside.

What this is, for me - and I have seen the movie several times - is a remarkable collection of performances by some of France's greatest actors and actresses - and John Malkovich. The performances by Catherine Deneuve (as Odette; no, she does not look at all like I had imagined Odette from the novel, but she is radiant in this movie), Emmanuelle Béart (as Gilberte Swann; ditto), John Malkovich (Charlus; ditto in spades; he does not look at all like Proust describes Charlus, but he creates a remarkably moving and coherent character), Vincent Perez (Morel; he may look like Proust's Morel, but he gives him more depth), and Marie-France Pisier (Mme Verdurin) are all absolutely first rate, beautiful to watch. They make the film for me. Other characters important in Proust are either reduced to very small roles (the Duke and Duchess de Guermantes, the Prince and Princess de G) or vanish altogether (Swann, Marcel's father). But watching the above great actors and actresses give great performances is, for me, the great value of this movie.

If you want Proust, you'll just have to read it.

But if you want to see some of France's greatest actors and actresses at their best, you could do a lot worse than this movie.

Details

Official Sites:

Kino International

Country:

France Italy Portugal

Language:

French

Release Date:

19 May 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Marcel Proust's Time Regained

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF65,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$247,728

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$248,653

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gemini Films, France 2 Cinéma, Les Films du Lendemain

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1