Skylab (2011)

In July 1979, during the Summer holidays, in a house somewhere in Brittany, a whole family (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and other relatives) are gathered to celebrate Granny Amandine's ... See full summary »

Director:

Julie Delpy

Writer:

Julie Delpy (screenplay)

Stars:

Bernadette Lafont, Emmanuelle Riva, Eric Elmosnino

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bernadette Lafont	...	Mamie Amandine
Emmanuelle Riva	...	Mme Prévost dite Mémé - la mère d'Anna
Eric Elmosnino	...	Jean dit Jacquot - le père d'Albertine
Julie Delpy	...	Anna - la mère d'Albertine
Aure Atika	...	Tante Linette
Jean-Louis Coulloc'h	...	Tonton Fredo
Noémie Lvovsky	...	Tante Monique
Candide Sanchez	...	Tonton Gustavo
Denis Ménochet	...	Tonton Roger
Valérie Bonneton	...	Tante Micheline
Albert Delpy	...	Tonton Hubert
Vincent Lacoste	...	Christian
Sophie Quinton	...	Tante Clémentine
Marc Ruchmann	...	Tonton Loulou
Michelle Goddet	...	Tante Suzette (as Michèle Goddet)

Storyline

In July 1979, during the Summer holidays, in a house somewhere in Brittany, a whole family (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and other relatives) are gathered to celebrate Granny Amandine's sixty-seventh birthday. Albertine, who was ten years old at the time, vividly recounts this brief but life-changing experience.

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Plot Keywords:

summer | birthday | brittany | f rated | man crying | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

5 October 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

O Verão do Skylab

Filming Locations:

Gare SNCF, Place de la Nouvelle Gare, Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Film, Mars Films, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Award: Special Jury Prize at the 2011 San Sebastian.

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Goofs

Though set in July 1979, the kids dance to a punk song by the Dead Kennedys which was first released in May, 1981.

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Connections

References Alien (1979)

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Soundtracks

Ne pleure pas Jeannette
(traditional)
Performed by the children of the film

User Reviews

So so film by French actress Julie Delpy

A directing effort by French actress Julie Delpy. Set in the summer of 1979, the slender plot deals basically with her childhood memories, as the ten year old daughter of progressive parents going to Brittany for a family reunion.

One reason I was intrigued to see this movie is that I'm just a year older than Delpy and I remember the worldwide fears about the impending fall of the Skylab space station, from which the movie takes its title (despite the fears, it ended up crashing in an uninhabited part of the Australian desert). Delpy's parents as shown here (she plays her own mother), are, perhaps unintentionally, pretty obnoxious, post 1968 hippies belonging to the self righteous left and always ready to parade their moral superiority. They see themselves as super tolerant and yet they are willing to be totally judgmental toward those who do not share their beliefs. When the film has them argue politics with their conservative relatives (who are of course, portrayed as fat, ugly and vulgar), the couple is naturally given the best lines.

An amusing and risqué scene has Albertine, the young daughter (the alter ego of Delpy) going with her father to a nudist beach, and feeling very uncomfortable there, while her parent is totally blasé about the situation. Also with Bernadette Lafont, Emmanuelle Riva and Karin Viard, among others.