One of the French films that garnered the most accolades at Cannes 2008 was A Conte de Noel, a drama directed by the interesting Arnaud desplechin (Kings and queen).
In this opportunity, Desplechin manages to gather a cast of luxury and immerses himself, again, in topics that are already part of his career, such as the Family ties and dramas, the presence of death, intimate relationships and conflictive characters and situations.
The actors and actresses that make up the cast are top notch: Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Melvil Poupaud, Jean-Paul Roussillon, Emmanuelle Devos and Chiara Mastroianni, just to name the main ones.
The story recounts the life of a family facing the need for a transplant for the mother (Deneuve), and the search for compatible relatives for donation. The conflict is unleashed when they discover that only one of the children, an alcoholic himself, and a grandson with psychiatric problems are able to donate.
The film lasts just over two hours, the script was worked together by Arnaud Desplechin and Emmanuel Bourdieu; the soundtrack was in charge Grégoire Hetzel and the producer was Pascal Caucheteux.