LA BÛCHE
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Director:
Danièle Thompson
Screenplay: Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson.
Cast: Louba: Sabine Azema; Sonia: Emanuelle Béart; Milla:
Charlotte Gainsbourg; Yvette: Françoise Fabian; Stanislas: Claude
Rich.
Awards: Best Supporting Actress (Gainsbourg), César Awards
(1999).
Running time: 107'
Year of production: 1999
Rating: Not rated
Gauge: 35mm (color)
Distributor: Empire Pictures
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“[The
film] is beautifully acted, skillfully written and directed, and expertly
paced and photographed. It eloquently celebrates the poignancy of
remembrance.” Andrew Sarris, New York Observer. |
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Four
days before Christmas, sixty-something Yvette attends the funeral
of her second husband. Sobered by the event, she decides to change
her plans and spend the festive season with her three daughters. Milla,
the youngest, hates Christmas and doesn’t want to celebrate,
especially at the home of Sonia, the middle sister, whose bourgeois
fussiness and excess she detests. Sonia, however, has her own problems.
Her rich husband barely tries to hide his increasingly serious love
affair from her, while Sonia threatens the marriage from her side
by having a fling with the local florist. Louba, the eldest, juggling
two jobs and a long-term relationship with a married man, tries to
make peace among them and invites their philandering father, Stanislas,
to join them for Christmas. But despite his loneliness, he is loath
to accept: he hasn’t seen Yvette in 25 years. A sudden attack
and hospitalization make him more conciliatory, and he meets with
Yvette to rake over the coals of the past, each revealing more infidelities
than the other had ever imagined. In this climate of crisis, Christmas
fades into the background. In fact, the film ends before “la
bûche” (the Yule log) is served! A savage, often humorous
satire on the enforced jollity of the season.
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| PHOTO Courtesy
of Empire Pictures |
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