Au bout du conte France 2013 – 93min.

Movie Rating

Au bout du conte

Movie Rating: Agathe Tissier

A drama teacher instructs children in the art of comedy by directing them in famous fairy tales.

An actress with a failing career, Marianne (Agnès Jaoui) gives drama classes to children by putting on plays that involve princesses who need saving, frogs that must be kissed and witches that should be avoided. But outside class, those around her seem to be oddly similar to the characters in the fairy tales she directs: her niece (Agathe Bonitzer) meets a charming prince (Arthur Dupont) whom she saw in a dream and is having a hard time resisting the wolfish Maxime (Benjamin Biolay) who's hanging around her. To take back control of her life and finally become independent, Marianne takes advantage of meeting Maxime's father (Jean-Pierre Bacri) by taking driving lessons from him. But he is distracted by the impending date of his death, revealed to him by a clairvoyant 40 years earlier...

From this sentimental muddle surfaces an elegant and original comedy, thanks to slightly kitschy dialogue that references famous fairy tales - the ever-increasing winks at which should, in the end, escape only the most inattentive. Directed by fairy godmother Agnès Jaoui, the fairy-tale characters come to life in modern times, even if – in our lowly world – princes are few and far between.

23.08.2024

3

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