As we meet Lena, she is preparing to take a train trip to her parents' country home with her two children. At the Gare Montparnasse, she discovers that Anton, her oldest son, has disappeared, probably a mother's worst nightmare. Alas, the boy has been distracted by a wounded bird near the news shop. Against her better judgment, Lena takes the bird with her to appease her son.
At her parents' house, she meets her sister Frederique and her husband, her brother Gulven and his girlfriend. The parents are preparing to go on a trip to Italy. The father is suffering from the onset of what might be a fatal neurological unexplained disease. Despite the serene setting, Lena is an unhappy camper. She is a heavy smoker, a bundle of nerves, finding herself divorced with no apparent prospects for a good job, or a meaningful relationship.
As the parents go on their trip, Anton, who loves reading, one evening tells a story he had just read from a local Breton writer. It is a folk tale that is enacted by local people in their traditional costumes. The tale is about a girl who is looking for a man that can keep up with her own passion for dancing. We watch as three young men drop to their deaths after the strenuous steps required from them, while the girl keeps on her unending dancing. Finally she meets a youth, all dressed in red, who is much better at this than she will ever be. He represents a devil. The young woman dies.
The scene changes back to Paris where Lena is now settled after her summer in the country. She is working for a florist that has little patience for Lena's own domestic responsibilities. A younger man, Simon, who has been in and out of her life, reappears. The patient ex husband, Nigel, can stay with his kids while Lena goes for a tryst with her man. Lena is clearly a deeply disturbed woman who cannot find peace in her own life, much less share it with another man. Anton, a sensitive kid suffers the most in seeing a no-win situation from which he cannot escape, something that leads him to do a desperate act, perhaps to get attention to what his mother is doing to the family.
The film by Christophe Honore keeps on reminding us of another French filmmaker, Arnaud Desplechin, whose films are an obvious influence to this director. That said, one wants to give Mr. Honore credit for what he tried to accomplish, but the problem is that Lena is a woman who will tax anyone's patience. Lena has not a clear idea of what is happening to her. She takes it on her philandering American former husband, Nigel, whom she has divorced, but has remained on somewhat friendlier terms with his ex-wife.
There are things that do not make a lot of sense. For instance, the pregnant Frederique, one assumes has left her own marriage when she resurfaces in Paris, having given birth, we imagine, for she is not pregnant any more. There is Simon, a man who is basically an enigma, the way Mr. Honore wrote the character. For that matter, the only happy people are the parents, especially Annie, who is dealing in her own way with what will be her own tragedy when her husband is not around. Trying to keep this dysfunctional family in place, can drive Annie, and her husband Michel insane. In our humble opinion, the insertion of the folk legend is distracting, because it is completely unrelated to what one has seen. Perhaps it serves to separate two periods in Lena's life. It does not add anything to the narrative, and comparing the young dancer with Lena it is a bit far fetched.
The revelation in the film is Chiara Mastroianni an actress that has been overshadowed by her more famous parents. She makes the most of her role, even if Lena keeps getting on the viewer's nerves because of the inner conflicts within her. Marie-Christine Barrault, the wonderful heroine of "Cousin Cousine" and "Ma Nuit Chez Maud", just to mention two of her most famous films, appears as Annie, the mother that is witnessing the disintegration of her family. Martina Fois, Jean-Marc Barr, Fred Ulysse, Louis Garrel, and Julien Honore, the director's brother are seen in supporting roles.
At her parents' house, she meets her sister Frederique and her husband, her brother Gulven and his girlfriend. The parents are preparing to go on a trip to Italy. The father is suffering from the onset of what might be a fatal neurological unexplained disease. Despite the serene setting, Lena is an unhappy camper. She is a heavy smoker, a bundle of nerves, finding herself divorced with no apparent prospects for a good job, or a meaningful relationship.
As the parents go on their trip, Anton, who loves reading, one evening tells a story he had just read from a local Breton writer. It is a folk tale that is enacted by local people in their traditional costumes. The tale is about a girl who is looking for a man that can keep up with her own passion for dancing. We watch as three young men drop to their deaths after the strenuous steps required from them, while the girl keeps on her unending dancing. Finally she meets a youth, all dressed in red, who is much better at this than she will ever be. He represents a devil. The young woman dies.
The scene changes back to Paris where Lena is now settled after her summer in the country. She is working for a florist that has little patience for Lena's own domestic responsibilities. A younger man, Simon, who has been in and out of her life, reappears. The patient ex husband, Nigel, can stay with his kids while Lena goes for a tryst with her man. Lena is clearly a deeply disturbed woman who cannot find peace in her own life, much less share it with another man. Anton, a sensitive kid suffers the most in seeing a no-win situation from which he cannot escape, something that leads him to do a desperate act, perhaps to get attention to what his mother is doing to the family.
The film by Christophe Honore keeps on reminding us of another French filmmaker, Arnaud Desplechin, whose films are an obvious influence to this director. That said, one wants to give Mr. Honore credit for what he tried to accomplish, but the problem is that Lena is a woman who will tax anyone's patience. Lena has not a clear idea of what is happening to her. She takes it on her philandering American former husband, Nigel, whom she has divorced, but has remained on somewhat friendlier terms with his ex-wife.
There are things that do not make a lot of sense. For instance, the pregnant Frederique, one assumes has left her own marriage when she resurfaces in Paris, having given birth, we imagine, for she is not pregnant any more. There is Simon, a man who is basically an enigma, the way Mr. Honore wrote the character. For that matter, the only happy people are the parents, especially Annie, who is dealing in her own way with what will be her own tragedy when her husband is not around. Trying to keep this dysfunctional family in place, can drive Annie, and her husband Michel insane. In our humble opinion, the insertion of the folk legend is distracting, because it is completely unrelated to what one has seen. Perhaps it serves to separate two periods in Lena's life. It does not add anything to the narrative, and comparing the young dancer with Lena it is a bit far fetched.
The revelation in the film is Chiara Mastroianni an actress that has been overshadowed by her more famous parents. She makes the most of her role, even if Lena keeps getting on the viewer's nerves because of the inner conflicts within her. Marie-Christine Barrault, the wonderful heroine of "Cousin Cousine" and "Ma Nuit Chez Maud", just to mention two of her most famous films, appears as Annie, the mother that is witnessing the disintegration of her family. Martina Fois, Jean-Marc Barr, Fred Ulysse, Louis Garrel, and Julien Honore, the director's brother are seen in supporting roles.
