A Christmas Tale

Director: Arnaud Desplechin

2008 / 150min / DCP

Catherine Deneuve is at her most regal in the role of Junon, matriarch of the marvelously messy Vuillard family, who announces as the holidays approach that she’s desperately in need of the life-saving gift of a bone marrow transfusion—a matter that’s complicated when it turns out the only blood matches are her estranged son Mathieu Amalric and her mentally unbalanced grandson Emile Berling, both of whom vie for the privilege of serving their queen. Stylistically eclectic, brutally candid, bustling with vivid characterizations, prickling with staggeringly vicious put-downs (“Still don’t love me?” “I never did.”), and frequently hysterical. “Marvelous and exhilarating. This is a film you don’t want to see end, not because the people are so happy but because they are so human and alive.” —Los Angeles Times