CLOSING GALA

UK Premiere – France ALONG CAME LOVE

LE TEMPS D’AIMER

A sweeping melodrama, beginning in the aftermath of World War II and unfolding over two decades, Katell Quillévéré’s follow-up to ‘Heal the Living’ examines a mutually advantageous marriage of convenience that, against the odds, grows into real love. This is a substantial, involving drama that evocatively tallies the costs of living on the wrong side of social and sexual conventions in the 1950s and ‘60s. The inspiration for the story came from Quillévéré’s own family background. She belatedly discovered that her grandmother had conceived a child with a German soldier and had guarded this secret throughout her life. From here, Quillévéré weaves a tale of guilt and unsuccessfully repressed desires. With Anaïs Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste in the leading roles, it’s fullblooded, sexy stuff.

Sun 27 Aug 18:30

Dinner from 18:30 / Film from 20:30

Also screening Sun 27 Aug 10:00 (Film Only – Normal Price)

The switch from black-and-white to colour, and the saturated, slightly exaggerated palette of a vintage postcard, comes when Madeleine (Demoustier) meets wealthy, somewhat directionless student François (Lacoste) in 1947. He’s unlike anyone she has met. He studies archaeology at the Sorbonne and, when he slips her a covert glass of champagne at the hotel where she waitresses, he toasts in ancient Greek. She is open about her past; he, less so. Period details are manifest not just in costume and production design, but also by a social conservatism that colours characters who are too ashamed to admit core truths. Selected direct from this year’s Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes. (Subtitles)

France 2023 Katell Quill V R 122m

Our thanks to Charades for this screening