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A Sunday in the Country

Play trailer Poster for A Sunday in the Country G 1984 1h 34m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
This celebrated French film explores family dynamics in a clan on the eve of World War I. Monsieur Ladmiral (Louis Ducreux) is an elderly, widowed painter who lives on a rambling estate outside Paris. During a visit from his son, Gonzague (Michel Aumont), Ladmiral hints that Gonzague is too complacent in life and wishes that his son was more like his free-spirited daughter Irene (Sabine Azéma). Ladmiral wants to be freer, too. When Irene joins them, tensions among the family members rise.

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times [A] graceful and delicate story about the hidden currents in a family. Rated: 4/4 Jul 8, 2003 Full Review Nick Bornoff Japan Times Reconstructing with scrupulous accuracy, it makes a period normally reserved for nostalgia vehicles seem utterly contemporary. A warm, witty, perceptive film. Feb 10, 2023 Full Review Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews Rated: 4/5 Nov 19, 2004 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 5/5 Nov 5, 2004 Full Review John Esther Pasadena Weekly One of Tavernier's worse Rated: 3/5 Aug 22, 2003 Full Review TV Guide Rated: 4.5/5 Jul 30, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member A Sunday in the Country is a simple film about a family gathering together at the patriarch's home for the day. His son's entire clan comes on a regular basis, but his single daughter is not around as often. There wasn't much to this movie, to be honest. Seeing the family dynamics play out felt a little bland. It's not that I'm looking for a lot of conflict in a film like this one, but most of their conversations seemed very surface-level and didn't explore anything all that interesting. Even when the daughter comes onto the scene, and clearly brings some alternative ideas and opinions, it never took the movie anywhere I was excited to go. One thing I did enjoy in A Sunday in the Country was the brief memories that we see brought to life on screen. Rather than always talking about what happened in the past, the film would give us a quick glimpse. I would have liked more of this and less narration to be honest. These visions created a magical feeling of nostalgia tied to the long history of the home and the family in it. All in all, there was nothing unpleasant about A Sunday in the Country, but I didn't find anything that stood out as overly exciting or enjoyable either. It felt authentic and real, which can be tough with intimate films like this one, yet it falls into the sad category of films I didn't mind but will probably forget soon. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/29/20 Full Review Audience Member http://filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-sunday-in-country_24.html Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Small, subtle story about the dynamics of parents and children, regrets and missed opportunities, and the golden-hued memories that frame our consideration of our lives. Another lovely film by Tavernier. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Rien que pour la photographie... Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Reflective and perceptive, this film is powerful stuff. It's a wonderful meditation of the nature of the family. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Hm, je ne peux pas vraiment comprendre l'enthousiasme qu'a rencontrà (C) ce film dans les annà (C)es 80. But it was great to see the young Sabine Azà (C)ma Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Sunday in the Country

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Movie Info

Synopsis This celebrated French film explores family dynamics in a clan on the eve of World War I. Monsieur Ladmiral (Louis Ducreux) is an elderly, widowed painter who lives on a rambling estate outside Paris. During a visit from his son, Gonzague (Michel Aumont), Ladmiral hints that Gonzague is too complacent in life and wishes that his son was more like his free-spirited daughter Irene (Sabine Azéma). Ladmiral wants to be freer, too. When Irene joins them, tensions among the family members rise.
Director
Bertrand Tavernier
Producer
Bertrand Tavernier
Rating
G
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Runtime
1h 34m