Un Air de Famille

[Chevalier Bayard]

This is not a new movie as it's a 1996 one but this forum is not at all dedicated to new movies only



I have decided to talk to you about Un Air de Famille as we've just seen tonight with Trinity and Tekila the play in a theater and it has remind us how good was the movie. Actually we have remembered that we had seen it 7 times at the cinema with Tekila when it had been released. It is one of my favourite comedies and in my personnal top 5 of the best french movies.



In 1996, Un Air De Famille has win 3 Césars (the Césars are the french Oscars, academy awards):

• Best Supporting Actor for Jean-Pierre Daroussin
• Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Frot (Agnès Jaoui was also nominated !)
• and Best Writing for Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri and Cédric Klapisch.

All the actors deserved a César as each of their performance is amazing. One possible explanation is that they had all played these characters for nine months on stage before making the transition to the film.



As I've said earlier, this movie is a comedy but a very special one. First of all most of the humour doesnot pass through comic situations but trough the dialogues which are amazing. Adapted by Klapisch and authors Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri from the popular stage play of the same name, this movie offers a succession of brilliantly constructed conversations, one after another.



Un Air de Famille is nearly in real time as its action takes place in a time zone of 4~5 hours and the film is 1:45 long. Nearly all the action takes place in a bar-restaurant owned by Henri (Jean-Pierre Bacri) who is expecting his family for the usual "friday gathering" where he and his wife, his mother, his single sister, his brother and his wife, use to go to a restaurant to have dinner in family.

This one is announced to be special as it is his brother's wife, Yolande aka "Yoyo" (Catherine Frot), 's birthday.

But around this birthday and other unexpected events, this gathering will bring out both the best and the worst in these relatives. Familiar types, including a shrewish mother, a sharp-tongued daughter and a mama's-boy son, clash in unpredictable ways, erupting into hilarious scenes of conflict and resolution.



I'll add that all these dialogues are in "common french". I mean the subtitles must be easily done as quite a litteral translation must be sufficient and ... I think it is an excellent way to practice your French if you want to

I've found the zone 1 dvd with english subtitles on dvdsoon.com, =>here<= (canadian website, if you arrive on a french page you'll be able to change language to enlgish ) and also on amazon.com =>here<= (but I haven't found it on amazon.co.uk ).

Anyway if you can't stand talky movies, forget this one. But if you can and if you like comedies with amazingly funny dialogues. Run for it. I'm 300% sure you won't regreat it one single seconds. Each time I watch this movie it makes me laugh like the first time.



For me it is really a master piece among the comedies and it deserves a 6/6.

I hope the other frenchies around will stop by this topic to continue the promotion

And most of all, I hope you'll trust me and give this movie a chance if you ever are able to see it

Chevvie.

[Albatross]

Upon hearing the title of this movie, I can't say that it grabbed my interest immediately - It sounded more like the title of a TV show, which is I suppose understandable since it originated in the Theatre.

One thing I have learnt over the years though is to not judge a book by it's cover, and since Chev was singing it's praises, I figured I had to give it a go...

Every now and then, you get the chance to watch a movie that reminds you what film making is about - a strong storyline, interesting characters and good dialogue - rather than an almost cowardly reliance on big-budget special effects and blockbuster action heroes.

The mood of this movie is just so perfect that it simply doesn't need to move far outside the confines of the cafe, and the acting seems effortless and natural, making for a convincing and thoroughly entertaining experience.

It appears (at least to me) that much of the comedy may have been lost in translation (perhaps simply because I was reading subtitles almost as much as I was watching the performances ) but this is of little concern, as the drama (or is it melodrama? ) is of the highest quality.

As Chev mentioned, if your only love is action movies, or Hollywood productions, best avoid this one - But if you like intelligent, clever entertainment (and don't mind subtitled films, for those that don't speak French ) then this is a must-see.

6/6

[Chevalier Bayard]

I was happy to see more 6/6 joining mine but quite disapointed to not read any other posts here ... and I'm VERY happy to see that the first one is from a non-french

I'm glad you've liked it so much Albie

Indeed there are always some lost in translation but the humour here is not really on word games but mostly on very efficient dialogs helps by a brilliant acting.

Yay this topic is aliiiiive !!