Ma Saison Preferee . Nashville Scene . 03-02-98

Ma Saison Preferee

DIRECTED BY: André Téchiné

REVIEWED: 03-02-98

This riveting French melodrama focuses on the archetypal situation of a middle-aged brother and sister forced to care for their dying mother; it's characterized by the constant refusal of director Andre Techine (Les Voleurs) to take the easy way out in style or theme. Scene after scene serves the emotional truths that most American films go out of their way to avoid. Out of touch for three years, the siblings--lawyer Emilie (Catherine Deneuve) and neurologist Antoine (Daniel Auteuil)--come together in Toulouse feeling an equal measure of love and rage toward each other and toward their 70-year-old mom (Marthe Villalonga), who's pretty bitter herself. Despite the overwhelming bleakness of the proceedings, there's a thrill to the way the horrors of familial relations are so unjudgmentally, therapeutically laid bare.

--Rob Nelson

Other Films by André Téchiné
Thieves

Film Vault Suggested Links
Full Speed
Private Confessions
The King of Masks

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.