Review Movies: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life | Rémi Bezancon | French film | lengthy soap opera

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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with DAN CARRIER
Published: 22 October 2009

Déborah François as Fleur Duval

Days in the life of a family growing apart

THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST
OF YOUR LIFE
Directed by Rémi Bezancon
Certificate 15

YOU can choose your friends but not your family: that is the maxim that lies behind this thoughtful French film that charts the lives of Marie-Jeanne, Robert and their three children.
We follow the growing pains over 12 years of these five relatives. Director Rémi Bezancon picks five days over this period that highlight and define a particular aspect of family life.
It begins with Albert, 20, leaving home, and we watch the response of the near-hysterical mother. He heads to live in a tiny room in the same block as his grandfather, a cantankerous old coot who causes no end of heartache for the rest of the tribe.
Then there is the reaction to Albert flying the nest: the empty chair at the dinner table. Brother Raphael wonders if it means he can come out of his older sibling’s shadow, his father wants to use his room to create an office – or is it a place to store his old vinyl? – and Fleur believes it is time she had a proper, large bedroom. The film then fast forwards five years and we meet Fleur again, now an angry, grungey teenager, keen to lose her virginity, and ready to show her mother she is no longer a child – and the supposed consequences this fact has for her parents.
Each family member has a similar situation to deal with: Marie-Jeanne needs to redefine her role as her children discover their independence, while Robert discovers some news that will change his life forever.
Each passage is well thought out and creates a complete picture of five disparate characters linked by blood ties. While at first it feels a little too much like a typical French film-length soap opera, the endearing nature of the leads is such that you will be sucked in and rooting for them.

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