Wednesday 23 October 2019
10.00 am, 2.30 pm, 5.00 pm and 7.15 pm
Directed by Julie Bertuccelli
France (Subtitled)
Drama
94 mins
M
In Verderonne, a small village in the Oise, Claire Darling, (Catherine Deneuve) is the widowed chatelaine of an estate. A recluse for years, she has realised that dementia is setting in and, in response, she is holding a final garage sale aimed at ridding the house of its many ghosts. The objects so loved echo her tragic and flamboyant life. This last madness brings back Marie, (Chiara Mastroianni) her daughter, whom she has not seen for 20 years. Marie is hoping to end the Cold War which has set them at odds with one another for most of her life.
In the end, it seems like a film in thrall to the attractions of its design with Deneuve cast as the décor’s photogenic centrepiece – Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
Catherine Deneuve, a titan of European cinema, is the best reason to catch co-writer/director Julie Bertuccelli’s slightly strained but moving drama – David Bradley, Adelaide Review
Claire Darling is far from being a major work, but it does showcase a late-career performance from a cinema icon – David Stratton, The Australian