Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale)

The effect is strange, disconcerting - but never dull. ... Full Review

but the film is most successful in its mercurially edited group scenes in which stories unfold through briefly glimpsed glances and gestures.....But A Christmas Tale is more infused with bile and bitterness than it is with festive spirit.....The performances (from a first-rate cast), rather than the waffling screenplay, are the attraction here;.... ... Full Review

Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale is a compelling domestic drama, a French art gem to inaugurate 2009. The most discomfiting scene comes when one grown-up child is told by his parent, in plain and painful truth rather than passing vindictive pique, "I don't like you. ... Full Review

Arnaud Desplechin's sprawling family drama is sharply observed and superbly acted....In short, A Christmas Tale is a well acted, sharply observed family drama that's worth seeing for the performances.... ... Full Review

She plays Junon, the matriarch faced with fatal illness; he plays oldest son Henri, who doesn't get along with either his mother or his sister (Anne Consigny). The performances are uniformly fine, although it's the raspy-voiced Jean-Paul Roussillon who steals scenes as Junon's husband, the perpetually patient paterfamilias who serves as the eye of the hurricane in this tumultuous household. ... Full Review

Shooting starts next Monday in the Paris area on G?raldine Bajard 's debut feature, The Edge , co-produced by France and Germany. The cast is headed by Melvil Poupaud ( A Christmas Tale [ trailer ]) and Hippolyte Girardot (who... ... Full Article

Under the terms of the deal, Criterion acquires the rights to distribute select IFC Films' titles on DVD in the US and will release sell-through special editions of each film. ... Full Article

Scott Tobias April 23, 2009 General critical consensus held that the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, despite several strong entries ( A Christmas Tale , The Class , Gomorrah , Lorna's Silence , et al), was a bit of an off... ... Full Article

By Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel Mar. 18, 2009 10:55 a.m. The new Milwaukee Film Festival formally announced its dates Tuesday and issued an invitation for entries. ... Full Article

Arnaud Desplechin knows about families and has assembled a great cast for this sprawling story of the Vuillard clan in Roubaix, northern France . The brood assemble for Christmas and proceed to tear each other apart - sometimes gently, often... ... Full Article

It's probably unfortunate that this month's Fresno Filmworks title is "A Christmas Tale" -- not because this chipper dysfunctional-family French drama isn't worth watching, but simply because of our own holiday fatigue. ... Full Article