We hadn't heard from Michel Gondry since his last film, Microbe et Gasoil, in 2015. The director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made his comeback at the Cannes Film Festival with Le Livre des Solutions, a feature film presented in competition at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes, then at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival, before its theatrical release on September 13. The cast includes Pierre Niney, Blanche Gardin, Vincent Elbaz and Françoise Lebrun.
And what a comeback! The Book of Solutions is undoubtedly one of the best films of the director's career, which has had its ups and downs. At the screening at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Michel Gondry confessed that his film was partly autobiographical, and that Marc, the character played by Pierre Niney, was inspired by his own experience.
The latter is a young filmmaker who is unable to finish his new film. Prone to major fits of anger and strange reactions to those around him, he locks himself away, marginalizes himself, and alienates his entire team by making his work increasingly radical. With his collaborators, he travels to his aunt's house in the Cévennes to finally finish the feature film that everyone hates."If it's never been made, then it's probably a bad idea," reply the producers of Marc's film. The same phrase Michel Gondry heard early in his career, and rightly refuted.
Like his character, he too took refuge at his aunt's (in the same house as the one in the film) to put the finishing touches to a movie, and made many irrational decisions. Marc is a king of resourcefulness. He makes his films with three bits of string and is constantly beset by ideas, not always good, but always imaginative.
With The Book of Solutions, Gondry returns to straightforward comedy, and it suits him just fine! Constantly hilarious, the film is no less touching. In his madness, we sense that the character is in great pain. Overwhelmed by his own project, constantly in a state of improbable technical chaos, he is nonetheless touching in his genuine passion and desire to create a work of art that reflects him. And when you consider that the film is largely inspired by Michel Gondry's own life, it's all the more disturbing.
Films Incontournables UGC 2024: the best films of 2023 back in cinemas for €5
Les Films Incontournables UGC is aptly named, as it features the best films of the past year. The new edition of this must-see event takes place from January 10 to 23, 2024, in some 15 cinemas in the Paris region. Good news: tickets are only 5 euros. It's also an opportunity to meet and talk with some of the directors. Here's the program! [Read more]
Not sure which film to see today? Well, we've got plenty of films to show near you. [Read more]
Films Incontournables UGC 2024: the best films of 2023 back in cinemas for €5
Cinema: which film to see today, this Wednesday December 18, 2024?
