★★★★ - THE POST
- Absorbing French familial drama will leave an impression -
Two years of “unravelling” family ties has resulted in a gathering together of all the known descendants of Adele Vermillard.
It’s not for some altruistic purpose or hitherto undiscovered fortune they’ve been assembled for, but rather because an existing shopping mall wants to expand. Standing in the way of plans for a supermarket and “eco-friendly” carpark, is a house that’s been shuttered since 1944 and, legally, can only be opened (and sold) by its owner’s offspring.
After a subsequent Zoom discussion, four “family representatives” are selected to visit the property – digital content creator Seb (Abraham Wapler), transport industry engineer Celine (Julia Piaton), middle school French teacher Abduel (Zinedine Soualem) and beekeeper Guy (Vincent Macaigne).
As they sift through the letters, photographs and artworks that litter the home, they begin to piece together Adele’s adult life, particularly from the moment in 1895 that the grandmother who raised her died and the 21-year-old (Suzanne Lindon) decided to head to Paris (leaving heartbroken beau Gaspard behind) to try and find the mother that seemingly abandoned her when she was a baby.
What follows is a voyage of discovery across two time periods (the film’s French title, La Venue de l’avenir, translates as The Arrival of the Future), as the cousins bond over their shared family heritage and Adele is shocked to find mère Odette (Sara Giraudeau) working in a brothel.
She finds solace in the company of two artists she met on the boat to the City of Lights – photographer Lucien (Vassili Schneider) and painter Anatole (Paul Kircher). Sharing their lodgings at Le Rat Mort, Adele agrees to be Anatole’s model and muse, in exchange for reading and writing lessons, while Odette seeks to reconcile with her now adult daughter.
Best known for his “Euro pudding” trilogy of cross-cultural comedies – The Spanish Apartment, Russian Dolls, Chinese Puzzle (which introduced the world to actors like Romain Duris, Cecile de France and Kelly Reilly), director and co-writer Cedric Klapisch has created another crowdpleasing and absorbing tale filled with a fabulous cast (Lindon, daughter of actors Sandrine Kiberlain and Vincent Lindon, is a standout) and delightful character interplay between seemingly disparate souls.
In a way, it’s his answer to Woody Allen’s beloved Midnight in Paris, as evocative texts and imagery “transport” a group of 21st century citizens back to “la belle epoque” to “interact” with all the rich artistry of that time.
What could have felt contrived, instead almost feels seamless, as Klapisch and his team use clever segues and distinct visual styles to ensure the audience never feels lost.
- James Croot, THE POST
Colours of Time is now playing at Light House Cinema!