Themes: Musician's Life, Teachers and Students, Ladder to the Top
Main Cast: Jean-Pierre Marielle, Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Guillaume Depardieu, Caroline Sihol
Release Year: 1991
Country: FR
Run Time: 114 minutes
Plot
Jazzman-turned-director Alain Corneau brings his extensive musical savvy to All the Mornings of the World. Jean-Pierre Marielle stars as legendary 17th-century baroque composer and cellist M. de Saint Colombe. Believing the only "true" music is that which is written down, Sainte Colombe is vehemently opposed to performing in public. This stance is challenged by the composer's protégé, Marin Marais (Gerard Depardieu), a man of more commercial sensibilities. Leisurely and luxurious, All the Mornings of the World deservedly swept France's Cesar Awards (the Gallic equivalent of the Oscars). Watch for Gerard Depardieu's real-life son Guillaume Depardieu as the younger Marin Marais. All the Mornings is better known by its original French title, Tous les Matins du Monde. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Alain Corneau's fictionalization of the relationship between noted 17th century composer Sainte-Colombe and his protégé Marin Marais is a moving meditation on love, music, and regret. Framed in flashbacks, as the now aged Marais, played by Gerard Depardieu, recalls how, as a musically precocious teenage boy who had outstripped his mentors, he was sent to seek further instruction from the brilliant reclusive Sainte-Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle). The composer reluctantly accepts the boy at the insistence of his two young, lonely daughters, and the drama of their relationship begins. As the film probes the differences between these two gifted men -- one who has turned away from a world whose hollow vanity he despises to hone his art, and the other, perhaps more gifted, yet loving the world and its pleasures and more profligate with his talents -- it reveals something about the paradoxical nature of artistic creation. For the rueful Marais, painful memories of lost love and talent are all that remain. Although the script, penned by musicologist Pascal Quignard, is a trifle literary, there is little else to find fault with in this fascinating, poignant film. The two leads are exceptionally compelling, and Depardieu's son Guillaume makes an auspicious screen debut as the young Marais. The film, beautifully shot by Yves Angelo, features a remarkable re-creation of the period's limited light sources. Music of the period, including the works of Lully, Couperin, and of course, Marais, and Sainte-Colombe also complement the film. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
