La Buche (1999)

Acclaimed screenwriter Danièle Thompson (Cousin, Cousine) makes her directorial debut with this smart comedy about a dysfunctional family thrown together at Christmastime. weblinks, ROM recipe, interview with Director, subtitle control

La Bûche: Finding Holiday Cheer in Family Dysfunction.

La Bûche (Season's Beatings) is a charming 1999 French comedy by director and screenwriter Danièle Thompson. Thompson is known for her films, Cousin, cousine, Jet Lag, and Avenue Montaigne. Her directorial debut, La Bûche stars Sabine Azéma, Emmanuelle Béart, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, who play three grown daughters who conspire to reunite their divorced parents, who haven't spoken to each other for fifteen years. Set over four eventful days before Christmas, the film is a witty mix of holiday nostalgia and family dysfunction. The eldest daughter, Louba (Azéma) lives with their father Stanislas (Claude Rich), sings bohemian songs at a Russian restaurant, and is having an affair with a married man, Gilbert (Jean-Pierre Darroussin). She unexpectedly discovers she is pregnant at age 42. Sonia (Béart) is financially successful, bourgeois, tightly-wound woman in the midst of a divorce. Milla (Gainsbourg), the youngest, is acerbic and lonesome. They associate Christmas with their parents' divorce. The film features a musical score by Michel Legrand, and earned Charlotte Gainsbourg a César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

G. Merritt November 7, 2008

A French 'Hannah & Her Sisters'

This little known but charming movie is an ensemble piece and very French in its eccentric characters, twists, turns and coincidences. We see sibling rivalry and friction, but the story tells us that we may not know the people most close to us and that life can be constantly surprising. Another surprise is to see these accomplished actresses play against type. March 5, 2008

Terrbile

This movie is about cheating husbands and wives. It's a great holiday film (sarcasm). My time is more important than to spend it watching losers on film. Can I give it zero stars? July 9, 2007

"Three Sisters" celebrate Christmas in Paris or Anton Chekhov would've smiled:

Three sisters, the Parisians with the sweet Russian names, Sonya, Lyuba and Milla and their parents who have been divorced for 25 years but still have a lot to say to each other are in the center of this charming, clever, funny, touching and poignant dramedy that takes place one year in Paris from December 20 till Christmas Eve. It will start with the funeral and it will end with the Christmas party in which all members of this dysfunctional family participate but many events will happen before the party, important decisions will be taken, life-changing revelations will occur and all of it with the background of incredible Paris decorated for Christmas and the sound of beloved Christmas songs and some unforgettable Russian and Jewish songs. Danièle Thompson directed a marvelous movie for which she and her son Christian (who also stars) wrote a script. Three beautiful and talented actresses play the sisters. Sabine Azéma is Lyuba, the older of the three (the songs that she performes in a Russian cabaret almost reduce me to tears), Emmanuelle Béart is Sonya, the only one of the sisters who seems to have found happiness in her picture perfect family life but there is more than meets the eye. Charlotte Gainsbourg (the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, a very talented young actress whom I like in everything I've seen her) is Milla, the youngest sister, a brilliant computer programmer, the rebel and the loner who spends all her time at work.

9/10

March 17, 2007

I've rented this so many times, I have to buy it now.

I love this film, beautifully simple and human. The characters are real; flawed yet somehow you find sympathy for them- just like your own family. I've rented at least fifteen times, and I never get bored of it. It's great any time of year, but fantastic for the holidays. May 16, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...