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CHANGING TIMES Send This Review to a Friend
André Téchiné has directed “Changing Times,” an engrossing drama set in Morocco and starring icons Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu. The characters they play, Cécile and Antoine, were in love 30 years before. Cécile’s life has moved on, and she is now married to the younger Nathan, a Moroccan. Their son, Sami, visits from Paris with his Moroccan girlfriend, a single mother. She has a reclusive twin sister living in Morocco under the very strict rules applied to Muslim women.
Antoine arrives in hopes of winning Cécile back, but while there is still an old repressed spark on her part, there is also strong resistance and residue of anger. Deneuve gives a moving performance as a restless, unfulfilled woman trying in vain to control the life of her son. The film gains authenticity by virtue of its setting and deeply impressive acting.
Perhaps too much is going on, especially the extra touches involving the twin sister, as well as the bi-sexuality of Sami, who has a Moroccan boyfriend. But seeing a film with Deneuve and Depardieu has its own rewards.
The rest of the cast is also worthy, including Lubna Azabal, who plays both twins, Malik Zidi as Sami and Gilbert Melki, Bilal and Tanya Lopert. The locations are exotic enough to be interesting in their own right, which makes “Changing Times” an eyeful as well as an absorbing tale of changing lives. A Koch Lorber Films release.
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