My Golden Days (2015) (original) (raw)
Arnaud Desplechin's eminently lovable prequel (well, sequel with prequel flashbacks) to his 1997 breakthrough, "My Sex Life�or How I Got Into an Argument." The movie reintroduces us to Paul Dedalus, now a full-fledged professor of anthropology (and still played as an adult by Mathieu Amalric) to explain how he embarked on his endless Ph.D. and began his push-pull relationship with Esther (Emmanuelle Devos in "My Sex Life"), his mercurial girlfriend of a decade. While it probably functions as a standalone work, "My Golden Days" is enhanced by a knowledge of events from its predecessor�and also ...(more)
Arnaud Desplechin's eminently lovable prequel (well, sequel with prequel flashbacks) to his 1997 breakthrough, "My Sex Life�or How I Got Into an Argument." The movie reintroduces us to Paul Dedalus, now a full-fledged professor of anthropology (and still played as an adult by Mathieu Amalric) to explain how he embarked on his endless Ph.D. and began his push-pull relationship with Esther (Emmanuelle Devos in "My Sex Life"), his mercurial girlfriend of a decade. While it probably functions as a standalone work, "My Golden Days" is enhanced by a knowledge of events from its predecessor�and also a sense of the way the original's rough-hewn, "Mother and the Whore" conversational style has evolved into something lyrical and adventurous. The French title, "Trois Souvenirs de Ma Jeunesse," translates to "three memories of my youth," which gives a better sense of the movie's free-wheeling structure. The film is divided into three chapters and an epilogue. The first two chapters are short, dispensing with Paul's childhood and recounting a late-'80s high-school smuggling mission to Minsk. (The trip has "Fay Grim"�like consequences when, after years of living away, Paul returns to France.) The third chapter, which constitutes the bulk of the movie, focuses on Paul (Quentin Dolmaire) and his courtship of Esther (luminous newcomer Lou Roy-Lecollinet). A magnet for every teen guy in town, Esther is nonetheless drawn to Paul's idiosyncratic style. No one else has tried to win her attention by teaching her how to play the board game Go. (less)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Writer: Arnaud Desplechin
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Fran�oise Lebrun
3
fans
14
Blu-ray
collections
3
Digital
collections
5
iTunes
collections
| | My rating | 6.6142% like it | | ----------- | --------------- |