A Sunday in the Country (1984)

Bertrand Travernier's magnificent portrait of French family life on the brink of World War I. Alive with the subtle brush strokes of an artist at the top of his form, Travernier's acclaimed "A Sunday in the Country" is a lovingly photographed and exquisitely acted portrait of the Ladmiral family at the beginning of the twentieth century. Based on the novel by Pierre Bost, "A Sunday in the Country" becomes an Impressionist painting in itself, mirroring the Ladmiral patriarch's trade. The film is a moving picture of the hopes, disappointments, and small joys of family as a father's life reaches its autumn season.

A touching film!

Since the first opening shot, you will be conveyed into a magical world at the beginning of the XX century, where the impressive talent of one of the most remarkable French directors ever born - Bertrand Tavernier - renders his personal homage, not only to Jean Renoir's "A day in the country" ; but the Impressionist art of painting with Manet as the principal starring.

The fabulous images, arresting landscapes, lavish photograph hover the whole picture; around the lives and times of an elderly widowed French artist who never the made the grade in order to achieve a major receptivity into his artistic circle. He is visited by his short family a Sunday and so we will witness with astonishing accuracy and fluid camerawork, the intimacies of this family. There are smart flashbacks around Irene his vanished wife and the peaceful way of living of the last days of the XIX Century.

The script flows with organic majesty and marvelous dignity. Tavernier achieved a genuine jewel of infinite carats.

By no reason you should miss this treasured film of the Eighties. One of my favorite films to watch over and over again.
February 14, 2007

A living, breathing impressionistic painting

I had hunted for this movie for some time - thinking that it was named "A Day in the Country!" I remember that when I initially saw it in a theater that it made a distinct impression(!) on me. it was less the melancolly story than the visually beautiful French countryside and farm where the movie takes place. It is not unlike experiencing an Monet painting comming to life! One of the most beautifully filmed, relaxing movies that I have ever viewed. January 9, 2007

A feast for the eyes

Proof that sometimes the simplest approaches can achieve the greatest results. An old man (played by Louis Ducreux), a successful Impressionistic painter in turn-of-the-century France, is visited one Sunday by his son (Michel Aumont) and his daughter (Sabine Azema). Over the course of the movie we see Ducreux's supreme disappointment in his dull, overly careful, and plodding son, and his delight with his enthusiastic, live-wire daughter, who has rarely come to visit him. The film is beautifully photographed, as pleasantly eye-filling as any Impressionistic painting might hope to be. There is not a lot of plot or action, but the simple unfolding of peaceful events over the course of what appears to be a typical Sunday afternoon in the spring countryside reveals not only a serene setting, but an excellent work of visual filmmaking. A rich movie-watching experience. February 16, 2006

A Sunday in the Country

Set during the Nazi occupation of France, in "Conduct" we see the often chaotic, painstaking process of making movies, made even more challenging by the presence of an enemy whose central doctrine discounts free artistic expression. These filmmakers (played to perfection by Jacques Gamblin and Denis Podalydes) deal with their German overseers to get their movie made, while risking their lives aiding the resistance. Their authentic courage is more compelling than any hero they could manufacture on-screen. September 5, 2005

French Family in Nature

The film is breathtakingly beautiful making me wish to spend time in the country in France. In an old quaint house surrounded by nature. You can almost smell the fresh air and the appertifs they sip under the portico with the trees rustling in the breeze. The movie centers around the aging patriarch of the family. His wife has passed on and he keeps his lonliness at bay with the help of a housekeeper and his consistant Sunday visits from his ploddingly staid son and wife, two grandboys who much rather play together than be with the adult and one granddaughter who seems somewhat shy and clinging toward her mother. The daughter in law seems also somewhat ordinary with a need for chruch and religion in her life. Than in comes his other child, a daughter, quite the opposite of her brother, full of life, passion and a great desire for the country. She has brought her auto, which was a big thing. The movie is set in pre-WW1 France. I forgot to mention the main character paints, he seems to paint alcoves of the room, pieces of furniture, indoors kind of stuff. The daughter wakes him up out of his complacency, also waking up the rest of the Sunday family visitors. She gets them out of their lethargy and moves them to action. She is the first to leave but her prescence lingers. When the movie ends you have a strong feeling that the main character has made a shift from painting only objects that grace his indoor sanctuary.
Lisa Nary September 14, 2003

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