Time Regained

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William L Time Regained is a difficult film to judge. It's a comprehensive adaptation of the final volume of Marcel Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time', heavily integrating the author's concept of 'involuntary memory' - the idea that certain details serve as stimuli to invite recollection of targeted events. As a result, Ruiz structures the narrative as a series of flashbacks that are radically out of order and complements this design with interesting choreography in which characters and set dressing intermittenly 'float' ethereally, which is really interesting in and of itself (inviting comparisons to films that show the hand of Kaufman or Lynch), but there's a catch or two: there is a rather substantial cast to keep track of that maintain individual relationships in a network, subplots that provide context to each other sporadically, and the content at any given moment is often relentlessly stuffy (and excessively 'French', for lack of a better term). The film is, frankly, dense and long. So now you have to compare Ruiz's clearly comprehensive understanding of his subject, access to sumptuous sets, and targeted artistic vision with just how confusing it often is and how little enjoyment watching it often invites. Reflecting back, I think the strength of its narrative devices does outweigh some of its more obvious detractors, but it's a film I am in absolutely no rush to rewatch. Took me a while to recognize John Malkovich in a heavy French accent and a fake mustache. Wish he had spoken that way in Rounders. (3/5) Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/21/21 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. Despite its visuals, the story was still not one I appreciated. Impressive cast and the moving stationary pieces was unique. It was on Roku. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautifully shot and ambitious beyond its budget as flashbacks are too confusing to those not familiar to the work; beauty of film and cast does not make up for being devoid of any drama Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Here's a film that I adored that I can't recommend without pretty serious disclaimers. Ruiz nominally adapts the final book of Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past", but uses the loose structure as an excuse to pick freely from the entire mammoth work. He is clearly attempting to capture the stream-of-consciousness approach of Proust, and I would say he succeeds admirably. What this translates to is a glacially paced 2 1/2 hour trip through various parts of the protagonists life. I found it mesmerizing, but I like slow films that draw me inward. If you don't, the lack of a clear narrative will probably be torturous. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member The stream-of-consciousness structure effectively captures a mind lost in thought; what it doesn't effectively create, however, is drama. Moody, opulent, and just decadent enough, Ruiz's film is elegant all over and perverse around the edges, just as it should be. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member I had to make myself watch this film to gain any insight into Ruiz's cinematic treatment of the perception of time. The portrayal of every temporal concept seemed to be artificial, at least by today's standards. However, given that this film was made in 1997-98 I was disappointed that there wasn't something more subtle than what seems to be the surrealistic cinematic techniques of the 1950's. I suppose Ruiz is to be praised for his attempting to film Marcel Proust's novel but the film did nothing more than whet my interest in exploring the novel itself. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Time Regained

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