If you could go back to any period in time, any time at all, when would it be? In the romantic comedy movie La Belle Epoque it was one specific day in the 1970’s.
La Belle Epoque centres on out of work cartoonist Victor Drumond (Daniel Auteuil) and his wife Marianne (Fanny Ardant) who are going through a rough patch. So rough that eventually Victor gets thrown out of the house.
Along comes Victor’s sons good friend Antoine (Guillaume Canet) who runs an experiential company called Time Travellers. Through Time Travellers people can pay a high price to relive any part of history. While most people pick important moments in time Victor picks one particular day in 1974, the day he met his wife.
Most of the action takes place in a moody cafe where a legion of actors must be word perfect so that Victor, and the audience, are convinced they’re back in the 1970’s. There Victor meets a young version of his wife, played by actress Margot (Doria Tillier), who also happens to be in an on and off relationship with Antoine.
As Victor gains back his confidence and love of life, things get confusing when he starts to fall for Margot.
La Belle Eqoque is a heart warming romantic comedy well worth a watch. The humour is subtle in some places including some in-jokes for the audience e.g. when Antoine is asked “are you god?” and he replies “I’m a screenwriter” or when the announcement comes “orgy people you can leave now”.
As the credits rolled I pondered:
- Some of the 1970’s elements hankered back to the 60’s for me but then maybe it was different in France;
- It’s great to hear some of the music of the era;
- Go for the Hitler scene alone;
- There will be laughter and tears, mostly happy ones.
On at Luna cinemas
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