Des vents contraires

The theme here is crying out to be one, but this is no ordinary emotionally blackmailing family soppy movie about a father finding the tear-filled way to his cute little kids. On the contrary, most of the time he’s having trouble handling itself. And they skip the first year following the sudden disappearance and so we miss the phase of mournful tears. However, a year later those around you expect that you pull yourself together, start being a good father, move on, stop wallowing in sorrow and they no longer tolerate explosions of grief and self-recrimination. What else is left but to try for a new beginning? Some of the storylines just seem to peter out and mainly the middle part is a little long-winded, but at the same time it seems all the while that this is how it probably happened. And although (or because) it looks all cold and inapproachable, at the end we witness one of the most moving scenes of recent times. (16/08/2012)

The concept chills you, the performances from the pair of children are captivating, but the result inevitably disappoints. Every significant situation is one we have wished for terribly, and in the face of a civil approach, the uninterrupted shots of "pure happiness" and "clear sadness" are disgracefully simplistic. In a story that moves forward only through occasional twists and jumps, both the topical subject and the charisma of the unreadable Benoît Magimel are wasted. (16/12/2012)

A pleasant - in terms of the style in which it was shot - film about how a family copes with the departure of the mother. Or are things a little different? At the end, we reach resolution, which is definitely positive. The movie did feel a bit sluggish at times and slightly uninspired in where to take the story during the quieter moments. (01/11/2016)