Customer Reviews

My Favorite Season

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

PLEASE READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!! I've tried to order this set 4-5 times in the last few months both from Amazon and third party sellers/new and used and each time I received sets containing two disc#2's and no disc#1.There's a bad run of this thing out there and no one is checking on this.Be sure to contact a seller and ask specifically if disc#1 is PRESENT in the set before attempting to make a purchase.

The uneven but always intriguing director Andre Techine has crafted an extremely involving tale of a middle-aged brother and sister (Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil) who must deal with their elderly mother's deteriorating health. As a result, old wounds are reopened and family relationships are all strained to the breaking point. And brother and sister begin a self-examination that will take them on a rocky (and always beliveable) journey toward what it means to be family. The story, such as it is, rambles and changes focus from time to time, but that's the point. The characters, dialogue and situations are all thoroughly realistic and anyone who has come through any kind of family crisis will find plenty to identify with here. On the cinematic side, Techine has exquisitely captured the beauty of the French countryside, and his use of widescreen is surprisingly effective for such an intimate piece. Deneuve (who's even more beautiful than she was 30 years ago, if that's possible) does some of her best work, and the ever-underrated Auteuil is equally good. Highly recommended for those with a taste for quiet human drama.

This review refers to the Fox Lorber DVD edition of "My Favorite Season"....

"My Favorite Season" is a wonderful piece of French filmmaking.The intelligent and subtle screenplay, the brilliant cast, the beautiful setting of the French countryside,marvelous music, all under the expert direction of Andre Techine, had me hanging on every word,left me wanting more of this exquiste film, and thinking about it for quite some time afterwards.

Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil, work beautifully together as Emilie and Antoine, brother and sister trying to cope with a very dysfunctional family life, their own troubled relationship and the declining health of their aging mother.This is a family that tries very hard to just like one another, and with the passsing of each season,the changes in their lives run a gamut of emotions. Deneuve, Auteuil, and the rest of this outstanding cast will draw you in with their intuitive performances.It is a film that will involve you from the first frame to the last.

Fox Lorber has a knack for selecting and bringing to DVD some of the best international works out there. "My Favorite Season" is among the best of those. Overall, the DVD presents a nice clear picture in widescreen. The film is in French with subtitles in English. I did not see any way to delete the subtitles though. A trailer, and biographies are also included.

A wonderful emotional drama, and fine piece of filmmaking...enjoy...Laurie

also recommended:
Three Colors Trilogy (Red / White / Blue) [Import](All-region)(Remastered)

Les Choses De La Vie (Original French Title)

Dangerous Liaisons

The only Techiné film I've seen before is "Wild Reeds". I've been trying to buy it on DVD, which proved either virtually impossible or cripplingly expensive. Then I saw the listing for this compilation, which was not only cheaper than other copies of the film, but contained four films in total!

In addition to giving a broad idea of Techiné's career, the collection allows one to see the wonderful Catherine Deneuve twice (in "Hotel America" and "My favourite season"), as well as other familiar French actors, like Daniel Auteuil ("My favourite season") and Philippe Noiret ("I don't kiss").

"Hotel America" shows how obsessive love can construct and destruct lives. As the film is understated in the European way, it is useful to see it more than once to begin sensing the attraction of the protagonists to each other.

"I don't kiss" portrays the life journey of a young man who has fallen out with his family and works hard to rebuild his life in the seedy underworld of Paris. The young Marcel Blanc was awarded a César as Most Promising Actor for his role.

In "My favourite season" an estranged brother and sister (Auteuil and Deneuve) have to decide what is best for their ageing mother. The subtle complexities and interplay of interpersonal relationships are wonderfully depicted.

"Wild reeds" is often regarded as Techiné's masterpiece, and the intricate complications of young people coming of age, especially within a difficult period of French history (the years just before Algeria's independence), make this tale particularly enjoyable. Interesting to see the young Gael Morel as an actor - he became a strong director in his own right, making searing and violent films like "The Clan". His co-stars in "Wild reeds", Stephane Rideau and Elodie Bouchez, have made good careers for themselves and have later acted opposite each other for Morel. The film shows some scenes which most people would be able to identify with: unrequited love, the loss of a family member, attraction despite ideological differences, the tension before exam results are published. The scene with Serge(Rideau) and Francois (Morel) on the motorcycle is one that has haunted me for years now.

This collection is surely a solid introduction to Techiné's cinematic tales. Like the best directors he shows us stories that are familiar and strange at the same time, forcing us to identify, evaluate and grow.

The set is presented well, with the first two films on one DVD. The three discs are tightly packed in a container of the same size as an ordinary DVD holder.

A final tongue-in-cheek comment: I wonder when European movies, especially films from France, are going to reflect the new vogue of curtailing smoking. Has there ever been a French film with a main character who doesn't smoke?!

Andre Techine creates another classic film with the always interesting Denueve and Auteuil. Saw this film twice in the theatre and fell in love with it more each time. The final "chapter" of the story, the one that explains the title of the film, is as sublime as anything put on film this decade. Deneuve is at the height of her acting prowess as well. Buy it!

My Favorite Season is a film by Andre Techine. It depicts a dysfunctional French family as they come to grips with life in post-Vichy southern France. I'm kidding of course, the film has nothing to do with French Fascism, except in the sense that that period in history led up to the events depicted in the film, and if there had been no German occupation and Vichy government, this film would have been greatly different.

As to the film, it is lyrical and hypnotic. If this is what the French think of as dysfunction, then I am moving to France, because dysfunction never tasted so sweet. This is one of the greatest movies ever made, and here's why:

The performance of Catherine Deneuve. This was the first time I'd seen her in a movie, but I'd heard alot, well not alot, but some things about her, and, no actually I saw her in a stupid movie with John Malkovich, but in this movie I saw the raw hypnotic power of her stage presence. She doesn't have to do anything, and thank God, because the naturalness of her performance comes through. The thing that sets this movie apart is that it doesn't try to hard. This movie subtracted much of what goes into a modern American film, such as half-hearted attempts at plot, drama, action, good acting, etc... and created a story based on substance and momentum. The actors are effortless in their perfect portrayals of this so-called dysfunctional family. Que vive Le Maisson Preferee.

Ma Saison Preferee takes the viewer into the seeming world of any ordinary modern French family, dealing with ordinary problems. However, Techine does such an excellent job developing the three dimensional aspects of his characters that one is left clamoring for more. Deneuve is wonderful, and Auteil is absolutely hilarious at times as her somewhat mal-adjusted, yet brilliant brother.

The story, while exploring the frailty of human relationships, gives one hope. In spite of all of our dysfunctionality, we do live and we can love.

While I enjoyed Auteil's performance in Un Coeur en Hiver, I liked his work in this film much more. His character is much more light-hearted and not so severe.

Enjoy!

Take two of my favorite foreign actors (Deneuve and Auteuil), place them in one of my favorite film genres (the family drama) and hand them a script that is fully capable of fleshing out everything that great about both facets and you have `Ma Saison Preferee', a stunning and beautifully intoxicating look at sibling relationships and what we make of them.

Auteuil and Deneuve play Antoine and Emilie respectively, siblings who have drifted apart yet are brought together through mutual care for their ailing mother. Emilie is trapped in a marriage of convenience, one that tests her patience and sends her riling into the arms of her brother Antoine, a jealous and emotionally drained man who has yet to find anyone who can reach him quite like his sister. As Emilie struggles to find a newfound balance, one that will allot her a freedom yet not negate her responsibilities, she finds that sorting out her life is going to be more difficult than she expected; and with Antoine's sudden resurface everything gets a little more complicated.

The film is a very profound and moving look at the bond that forms between siblings, a bond that can be hard to sever (impossible really) and one that is tested through all sorts of stormy weather. One theme that I found very poignant here, but one that may not be directly addressed, is that of incest. I don't mean that in the overtly literal sense of the word, but at least a mental form of incest, as both Emilie and (especially) Antoine find themselves entwined within one another in ways of less than amenable fashions.

Don't let that idea turn you off, because it is not a overly expressed idea here, but it is one that can be raised (emotional incest maybe) and one that should be explored in order to appreciate the depth of character in this film.

The performances are all stellar, but it is Daniel Auteuil that really steals my heart and my attention here. There is a charismatic subtleness to his performance (this may be his finest hour, or at least one of his finest) that just draws me in to each frame. The way he is consumed by his relationship with Emilie, the way it attacks him in varying ways (excitement, frustration, depression, aggression) is just stunning, and he plays with his character's emotions flawlessly. Catherine Deneuve is stunning here, and effectively stunted in scenes (complaints have been made to her emotionally inexpressive performance, but I found that it was the perfect counterbalance to Auteuil's unraveling). I loved them both, but Auteuil truly steals this film for me.

With an elegant and sensual backdrop like Southern France dripping from every frame, `Ma Saison Preferee' is a beautiful and intoxicating film that will leave you with plenty to contemplate and remember. If you are not moved by brooding character studies, or if you lack the willingness to delve into the unconventional depths of a film like this, then you should probably stay away, for `Ma Saison Preferee' will come across as boring and aimless to you; but if you can bring yourself to the places this film wants to take you then you will find satisfaction in every single word.

Poses some interesting questions, to which the answers are revealed in the last scene. Maybe the director intended to make a sequel, though I'm inclined to think we can guess the rest of the story so there's no real need.

Okay, guys, imgine your only sibling is a sister a few years older and she happens to be none other than ... Catherine Deneuve (who in real life only had sisters). What must it have been like for a boy to grow up with her, she who would turn out to be one of the world's most beautiful women, someone all men desired and all women admired? How would this shape your character and expectations, knowing it would be unlikely that you will ever meet a woman who comes anywhere near your own sister; that you will, in effect, have to settle for second best?

Good one, yes? No wonder brother Antoine, brilliantly portrayed by Daniel Auteuil, never married, never got over his sister, turned to science so he wouldn't be a complete wreck but is a neurotic mess anyway, waiting and hoping against hope that his sister Emilie will come around. Obstacles include her tough-guy husband, two maladjusted kids, and an elderly parent. One by one, the obstacles are removed. When the last domino falls, Emilie can at last see clearly what she really needs to be happy, and says so in poetic form, looking directly at her brother. The camera pauses on his face as he takes all this in, and FADE OUT.

Very clever and very French, i.e., introspective and analytical -- Descartes' legacy. Bravo.

Amazon continues to promote vendor who sells Collection with two disk twos and no disk one. Only recourse offered is refund, which absolutely does not assure that reordering the item won't amount to a GROUND HOG DAY redundancy. If Amazon wants our business during an economic period when DVDs are a luxury easily dispensed with, it should monitor vendors it endorses about whom repeated complaints of this kind accrue.