After watching three charming 1927 shorts last night I decided to get back to watching feature flicks. Checking BBC iPlayer,I was intrigued to find a recent Quebec French film I've heard nothing about,which led to me booking a table at the café.The plot:Touring around the world as a DJ, Antoine tries to take care of his children whilst also falling in love with girlfriend Rose. Feeling that he wants to take the next step with Rose,Antoine starts to think how this will complicate things with his ex-wife Carole.In 1960's Paris,single mother Jacqueline passionately takes care of her Down syndrome son Laurent. Each appearing to live separate lives,Antoine spins a tune that he,Rose,Carole,Laurent and Jacqueline all sing across time.View on the film:Tightly coiled in the love they have for each other Vanessa Paradis & Marin Gerrier both give exceptional performances as Jacqueline and Laurent. Going against demands for him to be put in a "specialist" hospital, Paradis expresses Jacqueline's love for her son in an incredibly subtle way,via the change in her open facial expressions and protective body language displaying how important giving her love to Laurent is. Embracing his mum's love, Marin Gerrier gradually breaks open a rift between them,as Laurent puts his hands out for love from another.Spinning the wheels of steel with EDM and Pink Floyd,writer/editor/director Jean-Marc Vallée and cinematographer Pierre Cottereau give Antoine's thread a slick "clubbing" appearance,where neon blue and yellow lights flick across the screen. Making 60's Paris look like a Costume Drama, Vallée paints Jacqueline and Laurent and drab,dour browns and yellows chipping into the hardships they face.Drifting between the two threads,the screenplay by Vallée hits the heart of the film when focusing on Laurent and Jacqueline,thanks to their relationship being given a humble Neo-Realist edge,focusing on the obsessive,protective love that Laurent and Jacqueline become caught in. Attempting to match the drama from the duo, the suburban trouble Antoine becomes tangled in disappointingly fails to match the deep emotions in Jacqueline and Laurent's tale. Keeping the drama grounded, Vallée brings a New Age twist in which undermines all that has taken place,with the dialogue spilling into inane spiritual nonsense which shuts the café doors.

Cafe de Flore or a coffee on every rebirth. Whether behind our actions stand reasons set out in the untouchable past or we should not deepen so much? At least one thing is certain - the actions we do draw our future destinies, and our relationships with others are the most important.About what we should not be, about - to trust more on our intuition and most importantly, to seek peace and love. You know the saying - if you love something, let it go and if it comes back to you, no one wants it. About breaking with childhood and building a complete figures based on clearly conscious desires and ideas.I give this high rate, because I liked also the boldness of the film. Because its quality did not suffer from the "vulgar" storyline, because it showed that electronic music has messages as worldviews. Because it showed that money does not make happiness - happiness does not depend on them, but the opposite. it needs a balance. And because through the mouth of the medium it connected the world of faith and reason.http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/

Intercutting two story lines which at first seem totally unrelated, Café de Flore is an odyssey of love that is told through two intertwined timelines. The first is set in modern day Montreal where a club DJ finds himself torn between his girlfriend & his ex-wife. The other segment is set in 1960s Paris and follows a woman & his son who suffers from Down syndrome.Written, directed & edited by Jean-Marc Vallée (best known for Dallas Buyers Club), Café de Flore isn't an easy film to decipher for the plot unfolds in a very complex manner, employs numerous flashbacks, flash-forwards & cross-cutting moments throughout its runtime while the fragmented narration, thematic elements & symbolisms only make it less accessible.From a technical standpoint, there isn't much wrong with this movie. Cinematography uses its camera amazingly well in addition to its effective use of colour tones & lighting. Editing is a troubled aspect though for it breaks the story into different segments, rearranging them to give a multi-layered structure which may not work out for everyone while the cast chips in with fair performances.However, my favourite aspect of the film is its expert use of music for the chosen songs are seamlessly infused into the plot & make the sitting through a worthwhile affair. On an overall scale, Café de Flore isn't a film for everyone, can be easily dismissed as pretentious cinema, and is a multi-layered experience that's ultimately marred by its convoluted premise, glacial pace & metaphysical complexities. A rich, rewarding & spiritual film for some, a highly self-indulgent flick for others.

Café de Flore- Catch It (A-) Café de Floreis a beautiful French movie about LOVE. Its rarely you see a movie about Love & Soul Mates these days so Cafe De Flore is completely refreshing in bringing the purity of love. Café de Flore is a love story about people separated by time and place but connected in profound and mysterious ways. Atmospheric, fantastical, tragic and hopeful, the film chronicles the parallel fates of Jacqueline, a young mother with a disabled son in 1960s Paris, and Antoine, a recently divorced, successful DJ in present day Montreal. What binds the two stories together is love - euphoric, obsessive, tragic, youthful, timeless love.Even though the movie runs in Non-Chronological manner still you would appreciate how it amalgamates two stories beautifully. I'm not huge fan of non-chronological movie because it makes you depressive like Burning Man, We Need to Talk about Kevin & Memento off course.Vanessa Paradis gave a brilliant performance, she lived in that moment and her chemistry with the syndrome child is superb. You completely forget that it's not even real. Kevin Parent is mesmerizing and exudes passion. Can't believe that's his first outing as an actor. Evelyne Broche is beautiful & her chemistry with Kevin Parent is amazing. Helene Florent is great along with syndrome kids Marin Gerrier & Alice Dubois.On the whole, Cafe De Flore is a beautiful heartening movie, which will bring you in tears.