Conrad Lang, a handyman in a rich family - he has been raised like a brother with Thomas, who has the same age -, accidentally puts fire to the big holiday house he keeps. He returns to the town he grew up in, to the family home, where Philippe, Thomas's son, and Simone are getting married. Conrad's frequent memory loss and behavioural problems rapidly reveal a neurological disease (Alzheimer's is suggested by doctor Cohen when he examens Elvira) which leads Elvira, Thomas's stepmother, to install Conrad in a guesthouse on the property, with the help of a nurse. When Conrad looses more and more his landmarks in present and past, memories of his youth come back to surface. They intrigue Simone, since these memories do not entirely fit together with the official family history...
Acting
Depardieu's physicality as memory crumbles—huge man, fragile mind.
Cinematography
Gilded interiors that feel like museums nobody visits anymore.
Director
Bruno Chiche
Gérard Depardieu
Conrad Lang
Alexandra Maria Lara
Simone Senn
Niels Arestrup
Thomas Senn
Nathalie Baye
Elisabeth Senn
Yannick Renier
Philippe Senn
Françoise Fabian
Elvira Senn
Féodor Atkine
Scholler
Olivier Claverie
Doctor Cohen
Pascale Arbillot
Doctor Wirth
Sarah Stern
Mom Anna
Anne Benoît
Nadia
Hélène Hardouin
Consuela
Néo Rouleau
Tomi as a child
Xavier Thiam
Indian
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Depardieu was in his 'difficult' period here—tax exile, behavior controversies—yet delivers one of his most vulnerable performances. The French press couldn't ignore the irony.
The film adapts Martin Suter's novel but shifts focus to Conrad; the book centers Simone. This choice makes the servant the protagonist, upending the audience's class assumptions.
FR
