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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
I saw the The Wolberg Family (La famille Wolberg; Variety Review) at the recent 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May. What peaked my interest was that it had been drawing from its initial word of mouth a comparison to Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums (one of my favorite films this decade). The Wolberg Family while being a dark and quirk family melodrama really doesn’t exist in the same universe as Tenenbaums and going into it expecting that would take you down the wrong path. The Wolberg Family is a sobering, intimate and non-rushed family melodrama that perfectly works its way to what is perhaps the most touching endings of any film I’ll see this year. As a small and intimate melodrama and character study of a father and daughter relationship it shines brightly and touches deeply. I’m as foreign to father and daughter relationships as the come but here in the way Axelle Ropert portrays it onscreen it couldn’t feel more emotionally vivid, human and honest. In melodramas I’m often used to a more homogenized system of relationships and characters, which thankfully the Wolberg family feels carefully planned out as human movie characters struggling with each other and the obstacles in life. And yes there are some very quirky moments and laughs throughout.
Francois Damiens hits all the right notes as the father Simon in a complex role where he needs to not only come to terms with himself but also with his wife Marianne played by Valerie Benguigui and his daughter Delphine played by Leopoldine Serre. In the early going Simon is a tough character to crack or get into and then as it unfolds writer and director Axelle Ropert keeps peeling back the layers and broadening its symphony song of life, redemption and family. Highly recommended!
The Wolberg Family (2009)
Simon … Francois Damiens
Marianne … Valerie Benguigui
Delphine … Leopoldine Serre
Benjamin … Valentin Vigourt
Le Grand-Pere … Jean-Luc Bideau
L’Homme Blond … Jocelyn QuivrinStatement from Writer/Director Axelle Ropert
A few years ago, at the side of a road on Belle-Isle, I met a little boy and his mother coming back from the beach, their cheeks red, sand between their toes. It was the end of the day but the late August sun was still strong. The little boy, who was walking ahead of his mother, turned and called impatiently to her, “Mummy, why don’t you walk next to me?” His mother answered calmly, “So that my shadow will protect you from the sun, sweetheart.” They carried on walking, one behind the other, as I stopped to watch.
La Famille Wolberg is a family melodrama, a genre that asks questions whose simplicity I find particularly attractive: what is a family man, how can a man and a woman stay together for years, how can you let your children go and how can you leave your father and mother? The protective shadow that parents cast over their children and that these same children will flee one day or another will perhaps shelter this film.
SYNOPSIS
He can make an amazing speech on American soul music to astounded school kids, meddle in the private life of his fellow citizens or even make his 18-year-old daughter swear that never, ever, will she leave the family home. This man’s name is Simon Wolberg, mayor of a small provincial town, madly in love with his wife, an invasive father and a provocative son! This man is driven by his obsession with his family. It causes him to put these bonds to the test, checking their strength and fragility…
Related Coverage:
::: Cinema is Dope: Best of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival
Image Source:
Official stills used in the original international release.
Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
