A 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, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Subtitle: Eng
• Features:
  • L'aimee, Desplechin's 2007 Documentary about the sale of his family home
  • Arnaud's Tale, a new 35-minute documentary featuring interviews with Desplechin and actors Mathieu Amalric and Catherine Deneuve
  • Original Theatrical Trailers
  • Plus: A Booklet Featuring Essay by Critic Phillip Lopate

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
       Hippolyte Girardot - Claude
       Emmanuelle Devos - Faunia
       Chiara Mastroianni - Sylvia
       Laurent Capelluto - Simon
       Emile Berling - Paul
       Thomas Obled - Basile
       Clement Obled - Baptiste
       Francoise Bertin - Rosaimee
       Samir Guesmi - Spatafora
       Azize Kabouche - Dr. Zraidi

• Director:

  Arnaud Desplechin

• Producer:

  Pascal Caucheteux

• Screenwriter:

  Arnaud Desplechin, Emmanuel Bourdieu

• Cinematographer:

  Éric Gautier

• Composer (Music Score):

  Gregoire Hetzel

• Editor:

  Laurence Briaud

• Production Designer:

  Dan Bevan

• Costume Designer:

  Nathalie Raoul

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Nicolas Cantin, Sylvain Malbrant

• Makeup:

  Sylvie Aid

• First Assistant Director:

  Gabriele Roux

• Sound Mixer:

  Jean-Pierre Laforce

• Casting:

  Stephane Touitou

REVIEW:

• Leave it to the French to make a movie called A Christmas Tale that has little to do with Christmas. Don't take that as a criticism. A Christmas Tale is an intimate, involving, well-acted story about a dysfunctional family rallying around the illness of its matriarch, but anyone who watches it for some light holiday cheer -- mistaking it for either A Christmas Carol or A Christmas Story -- will be sorely disappointed. Arnaud Desplechin's film is most reminiscent of Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, as both films feature Mathieu Amalric and Anne Consigny, and both consider the strain on family in times of medical crisis. Desplechin's script, which he co-wrote with Emmanuel Bourdieu, allows ample time (150 minutes) to explore this strain, consisting of a succession of talking-head scenes that draw out the nuances in these characters' relationships. Again, not a criticism. Desplechin recognizes that family drama carries more weight when the audience has an emotional investment in the characters, so what might seem like flab in a Hollywood film instead provides useful texture as the story builds toward its climax. Catherine Deneuve does her usual fine work as the matriarch -- a victim of her illness, but hardly innocent. The standouts, however, are Amalric and Consigny, as the siblings whose deep wounds have festered to the point of mutual disassociation. Amalric, who had to act with one eye in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is equally memorable given free reign of his emotions, playing the family's black sheep, while Consigny projects a lacerating coldness that makes the moral high ground seem just as unforgivable. Desplechin contributes a wonderful visual playfulness, using puppets, for example, to cover the narrative exposition of the family's history. A Christmas Tale is quite a gift, whether received in December or otherwise. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi