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Olivier Assayas has created a delicate, yet sophisticated, self-referential piece about his personal encounters during the Covid quarantine. The film portrays his time spent with family members in his childhood residence in rural France. It serves as a reminder that, despite the worries and stresses, this period of mandated inactivity was not entirely unpleasant for adults of a certain demographic and financial stability. It brought back memories of carefree summer days from their youth, a blissful existence that seemed lost to work-obsessed media professionals. It was almost like a miracle.
Vincent Macaigne portrays the unkempt filmmaker Etienne, a character vastly different from the stylish Assayas. Etienne has returned to his late parents’ beautiful family home and is staying there with his girlfriend, Nine d’Urso. He keeps in touch with his ex-wife and beloved tween daughter through Zoom. Also living in the house is his brother Paul (Micha Lescot), a music journalist, and his new partner, Nora Hamzawi. Assayas utilizes his own home for filming and in the opening voiceover, he gives us a personal tour of the house and its surroundings – arguably the most captivating aspect of the film. In later segments, he abandons the fictional narrative and speaks candidly about his own family.
Paul has the capability to create radio shows from his home and he begins with a program discussing musicians who have passed away due to Covid, starting with Dave Greenfield from the Stranglers. (For a brief moment, I was hoping Assayas would play some great Stranglers songs, while Paul pretended to play guitar. Unfortunately, this did not happen.) Etienne doesn’t have much to do except wander around and think about film ideas. Etienne’s extreme cleanliness due to his fear of Covid starts to irritate Paul, who in turn annoys Etienne with his cooking. But, there are also moments of shared meals and laughter.
This movie clearly highlights the contrast between French and British cinema. Which British director would have the opportunity to explore such sophisticated and refined ideas? And to assume that there would be a receptive audience for it in their own country? In this film, a character listens to a podcast featuring Jean Renoir discussing his father Pierre-Auguste Renoir – and it’s truly engaging. I’m pleased that Assayas had the creative freedom to include it.
Source: theguardian.com
