Tous les soleils (2011)

Directed by: Philippe Claudel | 105 minutes | comedy | Actors: Stefano Accorsi, Neri Marcorè, Clotilde Courau, Lisa Cipriani, Anouk Aimee

After the masterly drama ‘Il ya longtemps que je t’aime’, writer – and now director for his second feature – Philippe Claudel in ‘Tous les soleils’ embarks on a completely different tour. This is a comedy with speed and style, which is also supported by excellent Italian music from La Tarantella. Claudel wrote the screenplay especially for the film, his book fans don’t have to search for the book form. From the start, the setting is clear: this is a comedy and there will be laughs! Strasbourg: Alessandro (Stefano Accorsi) is of Italian descent, has lived in France for a long time and became a widower shortly after the birth of his daughter Irina (Lisa Cipriani). Alessandro lives in a joint household with his 15-year-old adolescent daughter and his brother Luigi (Neri Marcore). Brother Luigi is the type of recalcitrant middle-aged sleeper who, in protest against Berlusconi, doesn’t want to speak Italian anymore and don’t want to go out on the streets. Out of resentment, he applies for political asylum in France, of course with no chance.

An overprotective father, Alessandro is deeply concerned about his teenage daughter falling in love for the first time and is overzealous to protect her from the evil outside world (read: her amorous boyfriends). Naturally, Irina finds everything her father does embarrassing and quarrels about it are the order of the day. Brother Luigi doesn’t want to work, lives on his brother’s pocket a bit, paints something, but doesn’t want to sell his art either. He watches a lot of slightly erotic soap operas on TV, can write well, is a foodie, cooks delicious and understands Irina much better than her father and conspires with her a bit. Alessandro does not want to enter into a new relationship, he finds it betrayal and still grieves for his wife whom he cannot forget. In addition to his teaching Baroque music, he reads books to the sick. Daughter Irina thinks that after many years of being a widower, Dad should fall in love again and engages Luigi to secretly find a new love for Alessandro via a dating site. Dad knows nothing, brother Luigi emails back and forth and uses a photo of Alessandro. Oh wonderful coincidence: a female colleague of Alessandro is interested. The misunderstandings caused by Luigi’s increasingly erotic correspondence naturally lead to predictable complications.

Claudel has incorporated beautiful pictures of the photogenic old center of Strasbourg in his camerawork. The story develops with great speed and humor, the scenario remains superficial and does not dig deep. Generational conflicts, infatuation, amusing misunderstandings, there is some of this in it. The characters in the film are sometimes a bit cliché and slightly caricatured. The complications are highly predictable, but that doesn’t matter in a good comedy. The soundtrack harmonizes beautifully and supports strongly. ‘Tous les soleils’ is a successful film in the comedy genre with its slightly philosophical and cheerful overtone. Sympathetic, light-hearted ambiance, light-hearted and cheerful.