La Belle Epoque French Film Festival

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https://www.affrenchfilmfestival.org/film/la-belle-epoque/

Date Reviewed: 10/03/2020

Written by Barry Hill

Shakespeare once famously said, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts”. Nothing could be further from the truth in La Belle Epoque, one of the three headlining films of the Alliance Française French Film Festival.

This film is multi-layered, the layers being peeled away as the film progresses. It centres on a once famous cartoonist (Daniel Auteuil) and his wife (Fanny Ardant) who are married but with very little romance left in their life. The wife is openly unfaithful and openly mocks her husband.

After they split, the husband takes the opportunity to go back in time by using the latest technology provided by a director (Guillaume Canet) who provides theatrical experiences for select clients and has been a long-time fan of the cartoonist’s work. But what happens when he chooses the day he met his wife and falls in love with her younger self (Doria Tillier)?

The cinematography is at times naturalistic and other times romantic switching between the 70s and present day. The 70s sequences are particularly evocative and historically detailed coupled with a soundtrack which perfectly underscores the action. 

As could as the technical side is, it is the performances and script that intrigue the audience. Auteuil, Ardant, Canet and Tillier are masters of their craft and have us laughing, shedding a tear and leaving us thinking.

As audience members we cannot help be drawn into the lives of the protagonists of this film. As the narrative develops we realise that we are not what we are, but what we have the potential to become.

There is nothing not to like in this film as evidenced by the audience sitting around me. In fact, there are not enough superlatives to describe La Belle Epoque which received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and is certain to be a crowd pleaser in Australia.

If this is a taste of the Alliance Française French Film Festival, then one can only look forward to an exciting range of films!