film: A Christmas Tale

Whenever I feel sad or depressed, I want to get lost in a French film. Christmas brings on some of those less than joyous feelings so I was thrilled to read that about a French film, "A Christmas Tale," directed by Arnaud Desplechin today in the New York Times. There's dysfunction all over the place and the (amazing) Catherine Deneuve deals with a cancer diagnosis but it spins it in that honest beautiful French sort of way and with lots of rich humor.

an excerpt from the NYTimes review:
"Illnesses mental and terminal, the death of a child, the reunion of a big family just in time for the holidays — Mr. Desplechin lines up all the elements of a hokey domestic melodrama. And then he sends them flying, with impish brio, in every possible direction, adding melody — from Cecil Taylor to Vivaldi, from Irish jig to Francophone hip-hop — and whatever cinematic technique comes to hand. There are stretches of voice-over narration and moments when characters speak directly into the camera, but these devices, which might be ironical or distancing, instead serve to heighten the sense of vigor and immediacy."

"Impish brio"… sounds like a winner to me. Would Christmas hurry up already?! Here's the trailer.