A vibrant young couple (Valerie Donzelli, Jeremie Elkaim) grapple with the news that their little boy suffers from a rare and malignant brain tumor. Donzelli, a busy actress in France, directed this drama from a script she wrote with Elkaim, which may explain why the parents become the center of the movie while the ostensibly suffering boy never takes shape as a character. One critic has compared this to the musicals of Jacques Demy, and though its narrative and stylistic flourishes make for lively viewing, they tend to pull one out of the story rather than into it. In French with subtitles.
Declaration of War
NR • 1 hour 40 min • 2011