In the Courtyard

R

2014

1h 37m

Comedy

Drama

List

71%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

48%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Antoine quits his rock band, takes a job caring for an old building in Paris, and develops a close friendship with a recently retired woman.

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Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Falling back repeatedly on in-your-face symbolism - especially with regard to the specter of decline - Mr. Salvadori seems content to idle in neutral.

Apr 9, 2015

Full Review

Zachary Wigon

Village Voice

Thoroughly nonjudgmental in its observations, Pierre Salvadori's In the Courtyard ranks as one of the funnier films about victims of depression and mental illness.

Apr 7, 2015

Full Review

Ed Frankl

CineVue

The dark heart of Dans la Cour makes its comedy ever more piquant, while Deneuve and Kervern are exceptional as two lonely souls finding solace in each other's company during the twilight years of their lives.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 8, 2019

Full Review

Pablo O. Scholz

Clarín

... lovable and quirky characters. [Full review in Spanish]

Jan 18, 2018

Full Review

Rob Thomas

Madison Movie

I enjoyed it, and I probably won't ever think of it again five minutes after I finish this review.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 28, 2015

Full Review

Jorge Carrión

En Filme

Salvadori explores themes and layers of the genre that are very uncommon. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 13, 2015

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marc g

Le sujet de ce film est la dépression, traitée dans ce film avec beaucoup de tact, de simplicité et aussi d'humour. Catherine Deneuve est superbe et ne donne jamais l'impression qu'elle joue, elle EST Mathilde.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ceaselessly sad but holds touching performances from Deneuve and Kervern

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The movie's topic is depression. The mood of the movie catches really good the emptyness that everyone who has suffered from depression can relate to. It is shown in the good acting of the protagonist, Antoine, who expresses as little emotions as possible. Also the music does good to that mood, mainly because there is hardly no music at all. And if there is music it is underlining the emptyness or pain of the situation really good (An emotional piano or a distorted synthesizer). Funny passages are mixed with numb and depressed scenes which gives the movie a kind of funny absurdity. All in all the movie made me feel good. That is because Antoine is someone I can sympathize with and he tries to become positive and help people. I think the movie is also about understanding and listening to each other instead of silencing our problems and becoming lonely. It is uplifting and realistic at the same time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

In short: Very commendable showcasing of a micro-cosmos living around a Parisian courtyard, with some peculiar but endearing inhabitants I saw this film at the Berlinale film festival 2014. It was the international premiere in a venue with more than 1,500 booked seats, in presence of film makers and main actors. There was no Q&A afterwards. I'm not sure why I liked this one much more than "A Long Way Down" (Chaumeil, 2014) that I saw earlier in the same week, in spite of many traits they have in common. Both films are mere entertainment, casting well known actors which will attract many viewers regardless of its contents, neither has an express intention to carry a message or a morale, both will trigger several laughs, and have more than sufficient unexpected turns of events. I assume that the courtyard film had a definite advantage in its diversity and strangeness of the main characters living in the large house, in fact in a micro cosmos, yet not too far fetched and not too artificial, all that working to keep us interested throughout its running time. It has no useful purpose to summarize the plot here. The story line is very easy to follow, the characters are properly introduced and one gets ample chance to get to know them better.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Moving story about two depressed people who become friends. You laugh and cry in this dramedy and it's nice to follow their battles on screen. Both leading actors are superb, specially Deneuve, besides great supporting roles. The problem with the script is the lack of attention to Antoine, whom we have no idea about how his past was and why he became a sad, drug addict man. This hurts the film a little bit. Also the fact that we see repeated scenes of him make the story quite boring in sometimes. We don't have any particular message here, nothing incredible, but performances compensate that. Watch it for Deneuve if you will.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A bit disappointing, just mediocre.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

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Pierre Salvadori

Director

Catherine Deneuve

Mathilde

Gustave Kervern

Antoine Le Garrec

Féodor Atkine

Serge

Pio Marmaï

Stéphane

Michèle Moretti

Colette

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Synopsis

Antoine quits his rock band, takes a job caring for an old building in Paris, and develops a close friendship with a recently retired woman.

Director: Pierre Salvadori
Screenwriter: Pierre Salvadori, David Léotard
Production Co: Tovo Films, Les Films Pelléas, Delta Cinéma, France 2 Cinéma
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 6, 2016
Runtime: 1h 37m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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