sergepesic Big, comfortable house in the provincial French town, white Christmas, family get-together. But, Vuillards are not an ordinary family. The iron willed mother is fighting cancer, but this is not a sentimental story. Bottled up emotions, seething resentments, unresolved issues. And it all explodes in three turbulent days. Cold mother, dotting father that keeps everything together, and four kids, ever present long gone Joseph(died of cancer as a child), Elizabeth( successful playwright, but deeply unhappy), Paul (the proverbial black sheep ,drinks too much to want to control himself), and the youngest Ivan, (handsome, but timid with the history of mental troubles). And there they go, with rituals, carols, Christmas movies, and rivers of booze, never really connecting. And in all of this lunacy there is an undertone of devotion and twisted loyalty. The ever so familiar story of families. The crippling inability to escape where it all started, the place that made us, the people who know us and can't be deceived. So, we come back drawn by the magnet of family bliss, only to be quickly reminded why we left in a first place. Smart, beautiful movie for patient movie lovers.

Hitchcoc I thought that this was a tight film, with fine performances. The fact that I couldn't stand any of the self-righteous jerks that permeate it didn't really distract from it. I learned a long time ago that films can have weak and even evil figures who are still really interesting. This family has done so much harm to its members that nothing is really going to repair it. The figure we care the most about has a death sentence She sets things in motion, but has no motivation other than that. The dysfunctional bunch clashes and bumps and sobs and carries on and the chips are still falling. The free spirit who has been thrown out of the family, basically, is the one who manages to eventually leave unscathed, but how he gets there is through his own general disinterest and insensitivity. Yet we do admire his spirit. The fact that it is Christmas does nothing other than force people together. See this if you don't mind feeling kind of bad afterward.

Harry T. Yung When I watched director Arnaud Desplechin's "Kings and queen", I was most impressed by the richness of its contents. "A Christmas tale" is also rich in contents but in a different way. Rather than multiple plot lines, the story evolves around a simple family reunion at Christmas. As the film unfolds, what starts as a blur comprising a group of strangers (to the audience) gradually develops outlines and shapes until at the end, what has been revealed in relationships and human nature is no less complex than in "Kings and queen". Instrumental to this marvellous cinematic experience is an ensemble of top-notch actors, with top-notch performances. Catherine Deneuve plays Junon, the pivotal point of this ordinary dysfunctional (no oxymoron intended) family, a woman who years ago lost his 6-year-old son Joseph to a rare genetic ailment. After several decades, she now falls victim to the same disease, and has less than six months to live unless she gets a bone marrow transplant from a family member. One of the purposes of the reunion is to find such a donor. It turns out that only two are compatible. Junon, however, faces her predicament with calm stoicism and isn't even sure if she wants the treatment. Jean-Paul Roussillon won a Caesar for Best Supporting by playing Abel, her supportive and understanding husband. He is also a firm rock and a safe harbour for family members (four children, their spouses and offspring) who are emotionally troubled. The two older children, Elizabeth and Henri, had hated each other since childhood, partly because neither was compatible with Joseph to provide bone marrow transplant to save their dying brother. Their respective characters also flamed the antagonism. Elizabeth, played by Anne Consigny is serious and multi-talented. Henri, played by Mathieu Amalric, is the black sheep of the family, always obnoxious, a drifter and a womanizer. But it turns out that Henri is one of the only two compatible family members for the transplant. The other is Elizabeth's teenage son, Paul (played by Emile Berling), an introvert, sensitive young man and a schizophrenia patient. Abel and Junon's other two surviving children are boys. Laurent Capelluto plays Simon, taciturn, reasonably well liked but undistinguished and still single. While Junon likes Henri least (not surprisingly), the apple of her eyes is the youngest son Ivan, played by Melvil Poupaud, handsome, fun-filled, happily married to beautiful wife Sylvia, with two lively little boys (played by Thomas Obled and Clement Obled). Sylvia, played by Chiara Mastroianni, then stumbles across a little secret that the two brothers had both been in love with her, and agreed between themselves that Ivan was to go ahead. While this does not change anything, Sylvia will now always wonder why is it that her life had to be decided for her, and how it would have been if she were allow to make a free choice. Her relationship with Simon takes a subtle change. Contributing to the complex world of emotions and nuances is Henri's latest girlfriend Faunia, played by Emmanuelle Devos. As she is Jewish, she has never intended to spend Christmas with the family. But while initially reluctant, she ends up spending two days there before leaving on Christmas Eve to join her own folks. What's more, Faunia's open and honest personality brings a measure of healthy impact to his troubled family, particularly, Junon. Completing the ensemble is Elizabeth's husband Claude (Hippolyte Girardot) and another guest, an elderly lady who is an old family friend (Francois Bertin). From the above summary, it can be easily surmised how immense the dramatic opportunities could be. This potential is fully realized by an excellent director and an impeccable cast. The only other thing I would add is that the entire tone of this film is cheerful, emotional moments notwithstanding.

bobbobwhite Started thinking about 20 minutes in, "when is it all going to come together with some semblance of cohesion and interest?" To me it never did, and was an overlong borefest throughout, with very short takes leading to other very short takes that never got my interest for any.Never saw any family act the harsh way toward each other that this one did, or talk to each other so carelessly without more mayhem being caused by it than this one did, or showed less love and care for each family member than this one did, even with the mother dying!Why was this kind of labored film supposed to be the right one to show at Christmas? Maybe Labor Day instead? I sure labored through it unwillingly, and it was sooooo long. And, I love French films! See Cache, For the Love of Others or Amelie instead for great French films, and not this piece of pretty junk.