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Family, friendship and young love are remembered, fondly and angrily, in "My Golden Days," director Arnaud Desplechin's stirring drama about the fluid nature of memory.
Paul Dédalus (played by Mathieu Amalric) is returning to France after years of diplomatic work in Tajikistan, and as he packs his bags he also unpacks some memories — in particular, three stories.
The first and shortest is a recollection of his mother's madness and his father's abuse when he was a boy. The second, about 20 minutes, follows a 16-year-old Paul (Quentin Dolmaire) with a Jewish friend, Marc (Elyot Milshtein), sneaking documents to refuseniks while on a school trip to Minsk.
The third, and longest, follows a college-age Paul sparking a longtime romance with the beautiful but mercurial Esther (Lou Roy-Lxcollinet). (Paul and Esther's relationship was prominent in Desplechin's 1996 comedy-drama "My Sex Life … or How I Got Into an Argument," which also starred Amalric.)
The new movie's script, by Desplechin and Julie Peyr, takes a thoughtful and emotional look at Paul's turbulent past and how it has left its marks on his middle-aged present.
'My Golden Days'
Opens Friday, April 15, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas; rated R for some strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language; in French, with subtitles; 123 minutes.