Christmas Tale [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The devastating reverberations of a profound tragedy echo through generations of a long-suffering French family in this emotional family drama from director Arnaud Desplechin. When Abel and his wife, Junon, started a family, it seemed like the seeds of true happiness had been planted. But while their daughter, Elizabeth, was healthy from the day she was born, things quickly turned dark when her brother Joseph was diagnosed with a rare and deadly genetic condition. Joseph's only hope for survival was a bone marrow transplant, but Abel, Junon, and Elizabeth were all incompatible. In one last, desperate chance to save their son's life, Abel and Junon conceived a third child. But not even little Henri could save his ailing brother's life. Joseph died at the age of seven, and neither his siblings nor his parents have ever found the strength to recover. Years later, family relations have deteriorated beyond the point of repair; the tensions between family matriarch Elizabeth and her cynical brother Henri finally culminating in a violent confrontation in which Elizabeth banishes her alcoholic brother and refuses him further contact with his troubled adolescent nephew, Paul. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

AWARDS

• AFI Fest

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Alliance of Women Film Journalists

•     Won Actress Defying Age and Ageism - 2008 (Catherine Deneuve)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Foreign Language Film - 2008

• Cannes Film Festival

•     In Competition - 2008

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Nominated Best Foreign Language Film - 2008

• London Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Melbourne International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• New York Film Critics Online

•     Nominated Best Picture - 2008

• New York Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Toronto International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Catherine Deneuve - Junon Vuillard
       Jean-Paul Roussillon - Abel Vuillard
       Anne Consigny - Elizabeth
       Mathieu Amalric - Henri
       Melvil Poupaud - Ivan

• Director:

  Arnaud Desplechin

• Producer:

  Pascal Caucheteux

• Screenwriter:

  Emmanuel Bourdieu, Arnaud Desplechin

• Cinematographer:

  Éric Gautier

• Composer (Music Score):

  Gregoire Hetzel

• Editor:

  Laurence Briaud

• Production Designer:

  Dan Bevan

CUSTOMER REVIEWS: