2 Autumns, 3 Winters

2013 French film
  • 18 May 2013 (2013-05-18) (Cannes Film Festival)
  • 10 October 2013 (2013-10-10) (HIFF)
  • 25 December 2013 (2013-12-25) (France)
Running time
91 minutesCountryFranceLanguageFrenchBudget$400.000Box office$350.000[1]

2 Autumns, 3 Winters (French: 2 automnes 3 hivers) is a 2013 French film written and directed by Sébastien Betbeder.

Plot

The story is narrated by each of the major characters. At the beginning, 33-year-old Arman decides to change his life. For starters, he takes up jogging, which is how he has his first meeting with Amélie.

Cast

  • Vincent Macaigne as Arman
  • Maud Wyler as Amélie
  • Bastien Bouillon as Benjamin
  • Audrey Bastien as Katia
  • Thomas Blanchard as Jan
  • Pauline Etienne as Lucie
  • Jean-Quentin Châtelain [fr] as Arman's father
  • Olivier Chantreau [fr] as Guillaume
  • Eriko Takeda [fr] as Hazuki
  • Loïc Hourcastagnon as the small ninja
  • Emmanuel Demonsant as the big ninja
  • Philippe Crespeau as Benjamin's father
  • Marie-Claude Roulin as Benjamin's mother
  • Zacharie Chasseriaud [fr] as the skater
  • Jérôme Thibault as the doctor

Release

The film had theatrical showings in North America as part of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema series 2014 program.[2]

Critical response

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "low-key kind of dramedy" and a "quirky French indie that gets by more on style and sass than on its storytelling skills, [...] With endearing performances and crafty 16mm imagery, but also a tad too many winks to the camera, this Cannes ACID sidebar selection should see additional fest and niche art-house play".[3]

Ronnie Scheib of Variety commented that "[i]n Sebastien Betbeder's playfully arty 2 Autumns, 3 Winters, three protagonists offer self-conscious riffs on their every thought and action, directly addressing the camera to describe past happenings, present happenings or what's about to occur momentarily. Mundane actions, trite exchanges and life-altering events all undergo the same literary alchemy, creating a matter-of-fact, Woody Allen-ish sense of complicity with the viewer. Maintaining a bemused, sometimes comic distance, Betbeder traces how happenstance crystallizes into biography as his characters traverse the titular seasons, with results that will delight some and alienate others."[4]

Mike Russell of The Oregonian gave it a 'B' grade saying "[a] fair amount of traumatic stuff happens in 2 Autumns, 3 Winters [... b]ut writer/director Sébastien Betbeder's French seriocomic romance still feels light (or emotionally distant, depending), thanks to the film's fusillade of stylistic tics."[5]

References

  1. ^ "2 automnes 3 hivers (2 Autumns, 3 Winters) (2013) - JPBox-Office".
  2. ^ "Program 2014". Rendez-vous with French Cinema. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. ^ Mintzer, Jordan (4 June 2013). "2 Autumns, 3 Winters: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  4. ^ Scheib, Ronnie (27 March 2014). "Film Review: '2 Autumns, 3 Winters'". Variety. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  5. ^ Russell, Mike (12 February 2014). "'2 Autumns, 3 Winters' explores Parisian romance, trauma: Portland International Film Festival review". The Oregonian. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  • 2 Autumns, 3 Winters at IMDb
  • 2 Autumns, 3 Winters at AllMovie
  • 2 Autumns, 3 Winters at Rotten Tomatoes
  • 2 Autumns, 3 Winters at Allocine
  • 2 Autumns, 3 Winters trailer on YouTube (with English subtitles)