THE GIFT OF GUILT
CHRISTMAS: a time to eat, drink and be merry with loved ones. But it’s also a time most families descend into collective chaos, the result of spending all that time together under one roof. That’s certainly the case in Arnaud Desplechin’s unconventional comedy-drama
A Christmas Tale. Over the festive period, iron-willed matriarch Junon Vuillard (Catherine Deneuve) reveals that she is ill with the same cancer that claimed her six-year- old son four decades ago. She needs a risky bone marrow transplant and so her family must rally – reluctantly – in support. Among the ensemble are her three adult children – depressed playwright Elizabeth (Anne Consigny), fragile, sensitive Ivan (Melvil Poupaud) and outcast Henri (Mathieu Amalric), whom Elizabeth exiled years ago: the price she demanded for settling his mounting debts. Arguments unfold over unwanted opinions, whose life has fallen most off the rails and who should be most indebted to whom – with even Junon’s impending transplant used as ammunition. Stylistically, the film is as confrontational as its characters. Desplechin adopts a vignette-like treatment, weaving in the backstories of the supporting cast and how they relate to the family. As Junon, Deneuve breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the camera. Voices are raised, stairs are stomped down and scene-separating chapters firmly close the door on conversations that were likely nowhere near conclusion. The director is unapologetic in his warts-and-all depiction of the Vuillard family. Junon and Elizabeth display a startling lack of empathy. Coupled with Henri’s selfserving monologues and father Abel’s head-in-the-sand approach to conflict, the discord Desplechin injects into the film results in an off-kilter comedy- drama – the comedic element most successful when it seemingly shouldn’t be. No family is perfect, and A Christmas Tale is testament to this. But the Vuillards manage to put their differences aside – however begrudgingly – for just long enough to survive the festive period. A true Christmas miracle.