ETERNITE/ ETERNITY

France, 2016, 115 minutes, Colour.
Audrey Tautou, Berenice Bejo, Melanie Laurent, Jeremie Renier, Pierre Deladonchamps, Irene Jacob, Arieh Worthalter, Valerie Stroh. Narrated by Tran Nu Yen- Khe.
Directed by Tran Anh Hung.

We remember the phrase “pretty as a picture�. This is a film of almost 2 hours of pretty pictures. There is something of a perennial global, and eternal glow over this history of a family, from the middle of the 19th century into the 20th century.

The film was directed by Tran and Hung, originally from Vietnam and who made some striking films in the 1990s, Scent of the Green Papaya and Cyclo. In going to France, his films became more serious, like Norwegian Wood. His wife, Tran Nu Yen -Khe, acted in some of his films. Here she is the set designer and provides the narrative voice-over. It is significant to have a female voice-over because this is a film which focuses on men and women but, especially, on women. The narrative, quite sparse, leaving the pretty pictures to speak for themselves, often anticipates what is to come.

This is France in the 19th century, in the countryside, the coast, beautiful mansions, lovely interiors, a range of costumes. And, while there are some deaths, most of them off screen with only a suggestion of pain.

Birth, baptisms, growing up, courtship and marriage is, ageing, death and funeral is. Eternal themes.

At the centre is Audrey Tautou, Valentine, her birth in the 19th century, her growing up, her courtship with jewels, there many (many) children, sons going to war, some marrying, a picture of the next generation with a focus of the wives, Mathilde (Melanie Laurent) and Gabrielle (Berenice Bejo). And once again, many (many) children.

And so it goes, the decades passing, and Valentine getting old and eventually dying. And there is a small sequence of flash-forward to the end, into more contemporary times.

It might seem a strange thing to say that some audiences, who prefer a more earthy realism, might find this film too good to be true, too explicit.

1. The title, life in France over a century? The eternal circles of life? Birth, marriage, the next generation, suffering and death, illness and death? Continuity?

2. The work of the director, his background in Vietnam? His Vietnamese wife, her contribution to his films, performance, set design, narrative for this film? The effect of a female narration rather than male?

3. The visual beauty of the film? Costumes and decor? Affluent families? The homes, the grounds, the interiors? The religious dimension, the church for all the ceremonies? The daughter joining the convent and glimpses of religious life? Courtship, marriage, married life? The transition from the 19th to the 20th century? The final postscript and the contemporary sequence?

4. The musical score, the classical music as background? Combining with the classic visuals?

5. The introduction to the couple, their marriage, the 19th century, their look, clothes, home? The birth of the children? The range of children, the focus on Valentine? As a child, playful, her role in the family?

6. Valentine growing up, the encounter with Jules, the marriage, the many children, the sketching and of the pregnancies, the births, the children growing up? The next generation?

7. Echoes of war, the young men, twins, dressed for the military, going off, no scenes of battle, Valentine receiving the news of their deaths in action?

8. Henri, the encounter with Mathilde? Valentine and her approval? The life of the couple? Their children? Henri and his temperament, Mathilde and her patients? The many children? The last born, on her deathbed, the whole family with her, her death?

9. Charles, the reclusive type, the encounter with Gabrielle, the courtship, the marriage, the many children? Gabrielle and the close friendship with Mathilde? Their sharing so much? The scene on the beach, Charles’s disappearance, Henri trying to help? The grief?

10. Gabrielle, staying with Henri, bringing up the children, especially the last born? Henri eventually proposing to Gabrielle and her accepting?

11. Valentine in the background, her growing older, the scenes with all the children, with the grandchildren, her eventually acknowledging her age, her preparation for death?

12. The device of having memory flashbacks inserted throughout the film, the emotional response to the narrative and the events of the characters, and the reminders with these flashbacks?

13. The film with the touch of the exquisite – and the absence of any gritty realism? Audience response to this kind of storytelling?