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UN AIR DE FAMILLE (FAMILY RESEMBLANCES) Send This Review to a Friend
One of the year's finest films to date is the French UN AIR DE FAMILLE (FAMILY RESEMBLANCES), by the talented French director Cedric Klapisch, who made the charming 'When the Cat's Away." Although he works in his own country, he holds a degree from the New York University Film School. His new film accomplishes the neat trick of being both dramatically lacerating and often very funny. It's an intense look at the life of a French family, portrayed by a terrific ensemble, at what is meant to be a birthday celebration. By evening's end relationships are drastically shaken.
Film buffs should be aware that Claire Maurier, who plays the domineering widowed matriarch of the family, is the actress who played the mother of young Antoine in Francois Truffaut's 1959 classic "The 400 Blows." She has gracefully matured into an even better actress today. The mother favors her son Philippe (Wladimir Yordanoff) , a yuppie business type, over her other son, the sometimes gruff Henri (Jean-Pierre Bacri, who with Agnes Jaoui co-authored the play on which the film is based). Henri runs the family café and is shattered to learn that his wife has left to "think things over." Philippe's wife Yolande (Catherine Frot), called Yo-Yo, is a likable, good-natured airhead who is totally subservient to her husband.
The daughter, Betty (Agnes Jaoui), is pursued by the wild card on the scene, the employee Denis (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), who is looked down upon. Audiences will find him endearing for his knowing take on the family, his acerbic remarks and his decency. But Betty appears less than overwhelmed by his ardor. The tensions in each person's life build to the boiling point, and it is to the director's credit that he enables us to view the characters with understanding and amusement. His method is to focus on the little things that illuminate the human condition, such as Yo-Yo getting birthday presents that she doesn't want, including a gift certificate for the same breed of dog that lies old and paralyzed in the café, a leash and a choker that resembles a dog collar.
The jaunty music counterpoints the traumatic events, and the dialogue honed by Klapisch and the actor-playwrights, is lively and revealing. Klapisch is not averse to reflective pauses or memories seen in brief flashbacks. This is astute movie-making, with fascinating characters to whom one can relate. A Leisure Time/ Cinema Village release.
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