A Christmas Tale

Christmas movies by and large seem to want to send the audience out feeling good about life, humanity, and the state of things regardless of what may be going on in their own lives or the world around them. In spite of its cheery sounding title, "A Christmas Tale" is not such a movie. In fact, Arnaud Desplechin's film is about Christmas for a family with so many problems to call them merely dysfunctional would be a great disservice to what Desplechin has crafted.
A few days before Christmas, Junon (Catherine Deneuve), has found out she needs a bone marrow transplant and soon, but finding a match will be difficult. Her devoted husband Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) is not going to let her go easily. In spite of the circumstances however, the two seem strangely at peace with the situation and just accept what must be done. In order to find a match their adult children along with a few other relatives will need to be tested and while they're at it, Abel's going to bring them under the same roof to celebrate Christmas. This is a serious problem for oldest daughter Elizabeth (Anne Consigny) and middle child, Henri (an outstanding Mathieu Amalric, the new Bond villain), who have not spoken in six years. Elizabeth's hatred of Henri is not fully explained to us but it hangs heavily in the atmosphere over the entire family's Christmas. Elizabeth doesn't even want her teenage son Paull (Emile Berling) to be anywhere near his uncle, but Paull cannot help but gravitate towards Henri.
What makes "A Christmas Tale" really work is that the relationship dynamics between all of the characters (there are over 10 principals) are well developed and unique. Each member of the family is well-written and well-played. Most of these people however, are incredibly unlikable. In the battle between Elizabeth and Henri it's difficult to sympathize with either of them. Even sick mother Junon is not the lovable matriarch we'd normally see in this situation. Abel is a loving father and grandfather and is deeply frustrated by his family's inability to even be civil to one another. These people make the Tenenbaum family look like the Osmonds.
This is not a pleasant film and at 2 1/2 hours it feels too long, though I'm not sure what I would cut from it. Occasionally the film can get a bit pretentious. There are some moments were Desplechin seems to be a little too impressed with himself, but he has made a very good film after all. This is not the sort of movie that's going to send you out the door filled with Christmas cheer but it might just make you feel better about your family. "A Christmas Tale" is in French with English subtitles (unless you like see it in France probably), and is currently in limited release. In Seattle it is playing at the Seven Gables. 8.5/10.

This trailer makes this movie look like a wacky dark comedy. It's not.