Un Dimanche A La Campagne (aka A Sunday in The Country) (1984)

An aging painter (Louis Ducreux) in the twilight of his life is visited on a Sunday by his children and grandchildren. Though he was successful as an artist, as a contemporary of Cezanne and Van Gogh among others, he lacked their originality preferring instead the formalism of tradition. This lovely and elegant film courtesy of Bertrand Tavernier (who won the Cannes film festival best director award for his work here) is a poignant rumination on family and dreams unfulfilled. The seeming simplicity of Tavernier's direction is deceptive for every frame seems purposeful and Bruno De Keyzer's (ROUND MIDNIGHT) artful cinematography conjures up images of Georges Seurat and Frederic Bazille. A lovely elegiac piece. The excellent cast includes Sabine Azema, who almost steals the film as Ducreux's seemingly independent daughter, Michel Aumont, Genevieve Mnich and Monique Chaumette.