Main Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Jane Birkin, Odette Laure, Emmanuelle Bataille, Charlotte Kady, Michele Minns
Release Year: 1990
Country: FR
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In Bertrand Tavernier's Daddy Nostalgia, Caroline (Jane Birkin of Agnes Varda's Kung Fu Master), a Parisian screenwriter who has recently left her husband and their young son, travels to the countryside when she hears that her British father, Tony (Dirk Bogarde of Death in Venice, in his last film role) is in poor health and has just had a serious operation. Caroline accompanies Tony and her taciturn French mother, Miche (Odette Laure), to their beautiful seaside home. Miche is determined to keep Tony from drinking or overextending herself, where Caroline is more willing to indulge her father in the few pleasures he has left. They playfully speak English with each other, while Miche speaks only French. Miche doesn't like to talk about the past, so Tony reminisces with Caroline about his former life as a sophisticated, well-traveled young man. Caroline is getting along well with her father, but as he talks about his cocktail parties and trips around the world, she remembers him neglecting her when she was a young girl. "I have no memory of you before you were 20," he admits. Tony speaks sadly of his relationship with Miche, which has deteriorated in the past few years. He notices that she used to say, "Come to bed," and now she tells him, "Go to bed." As the seriousness of his illness becomes clearer, Caroline takes Tony on a day trip to Cannes, where her deep reserve of anger toward him comes to the surface. When he speaks of his "beautiful life," and how things were better for everyone back then, she explodes -- "I don't care about your beautiful life! It was a beautiful, selfish life!" But Caroline also yearns for Tony's acceptance and love, and they both dread the day when she has to return to Paris. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
Daddy Nostalgia is a slow-paced, but moving and insightful film about family relationships, buoyed by exceptional performances from the three leads. There's one exchange in the film between Caroline (Jane Birkin) and Tony (Dirk Bogarde) that sums up the film's tone nicely. The ailing father, Tony, prone to reverie when speaking about his younger days, talks to his daughter, Caroline, about the screenplay she's working on, which he suspects is about him. He asks her to promise not to make it sentimental. She agrees to his request, adding, "but you are terribly sentimental." Daddy Nostalgia frequently verges on the sentimental, but this is more a function of accurately depicting these characters than trying to manipulate the audience. Director Bertrand Tavernier (Life and Nothing But), working from a script by his ex-wife, Colo Tavernier O'Hagan, strikes a melancholy tone of reminiscence and regret, with sporadic moments of intimate playfulness between Caroline and her parents. The film captures the pain and pleasure of these familial relationships -- the complexity of a grown daughter balancing her current emotional needs and the resentment and anger she feels toward the parents who neglected her as a child. Odette Laure, as Miche, Caroline's mother, and Bogarde deliver memorable performances, but Birkin is the soul of the film. Handed a strong role opposite equally talented actors, she portrays Caroline's emotionally tumultuous experience at her parents' seaside home with rare acuity. The lugubrious pacing may make some viewers impatient, but the film's honesty and humor, and its compelling performances should also make an impression. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
