Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (Canada)
Let's try to imagine what some won't like about this masterful film by the director of C.R.A.Z.Y. For one, it is based around waiting for two disparate-seeming plotlines to gel. French star Vanessa Paradis is a mother in late-sixties Paris, determined to raise her son, who has Down syndrome, and shower him with love. The second story follows a successful nightclub DJ in Montreal who is struggling, along with his family, through a divorce and an intense new relationship. Despite continual flashbacks and flash-forwards, the stories merge elegantly, in large part due to the thoroughly grounded performance by actress Hélène Florent playing the DJ's ex. Vallée is playful in his editing, with the gumption to use small visual and sound tricks throughout, without watering them down, even at the risk of contrivance. Simply a beautiful, intricate film.
Sept. 12, 10 p.m., Princess of Wales; Sept. 14, 11:45 a.m., Lightbox 2