A Christmas Tale Details

Very confusing

Very disjointed story line. Very little explanation as to why people behaviour the way they do. No sympathetic characters. Got boring.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Unforgiveably dull

This has all the ingredients to make an intriguing film, a medical dilemma within a family - which member of a large, clever, volatile family can save the matriarch, Junon, (Deneuve) by donating bone marrow and in addition a whole family history to unravel in the luxurious 2 and a half hours running time. But it has been written as a comedy, sort of, so the pathos is taken away immediately. There is reality in the love hate feelings in a family going back to events long, long ago and there are true moments such as the drunken, black sheep brother (Almeric, superb as ever) upsetting everyone as soon as he enters the house. Yes, the familiar family strife tableaux ring true but it is still dull, dull, dull. Which is a shame because it could have been a great drama. One of the problems is that the Deneuve character is cold and unsympathetic. She is complex also but we don't care. There is subtlety in some of the perfomances, the father Abel is particularly convincing as the amiable, loving father and there are lots of emotional scenes and events but I was willing it to end unfortunately.