User reviews

This film switches back and forth between two stories. One is 1960's Paris. Jacqueline is a hard-working protective single mother to Laurent who has Down syndrome. Laurent develops a relationship with fellow Down syndrome classmate Véro. The two kids become inseparable no matter how infuriating it is for Jacqueline. In the other story, it is modern day Montreal. Antoine is recently divorced from Carole with two girls. He is a successful concert DJ and he falls for beautiful Rose. There is a surprising connection between the two stories.

The 60's story is compelling. I love the kids. The mother son relationship is exceptional. The modern day story is not as compelling. The trial and personal tribulation of Antoine don't hold any interest for me. The back and forth between the stories disrupts the flow. The final reveal is profound, confusing, infuriating, ambitious, and in the end not all together successful. I may like this one better if it played out chronologically.

I'm a sap, I hold my hands up, Something like The American Tail sets me off whenever it's on TV. I found myself nearly wiping my snotty nose on the back of the cinema seat in front of me but was saved by a flash of on-screen comedy (not to give anything away).

I went to watch this today not knowing anything about it apart that it was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and that it was sold to me as a supernatural/romance story. Great! i'll give it a go... I was glued to my seat after 5 minutes by it's beautiful cinematography/editing and subject matter.

Two stories from different eras. One man, with everything in his life but feels a sense of underlying conflict about his relationship with his ex wife. One woman, caring for her son who has Down's syndrome. The stories are inter-cut (non linear) and unrelated but as we progress we begin to see similarities. You don't want to know the whole story, it really is a hammer to the heart.

You feel emotionally involved with what's unfolding (and a whole lot of stuff unfolds) that will leave you either rushing out to declare your true love to someone or, you'll end up walking on your own through a city with an icy heart (I haven't decided which yet).

There will be themes that you will be familiar with, broken relationships, jealousy, Maternal obligations/ or not. A brilliant cast and script, important subject matter and a 'diluted Lynchian' ending serves this up to be an essential watch.

My advice is don't read too much about the story. Leap of faith ;)

Oh and it features some amazing music... but there's a point to that too.

The first story is set in present-day Montreal and centers on a recently divorced father of two girls, Antoine Godin (Kevin Parent), who leads a successful life as a professional DJ. Despite having found true happiness in his relationship with his girlfriend Rose (Evelyne Brochu), he feels a little remorseful for having left his ex-wife Carole (Hélène Florent), for whom he still cares deeply. Antoine understands that she continues struggling to move on with her life, heartbroken. And to make the situation in which they find themselves even more difficult, their eldest daughter persistently plays their nostalgic love song with hopes of reuniting her parents.

The second story is set in Paris in 1969 and focuses on Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis), a self-sufficient, loving single mother who becomes the embodiment of perseverance and selflessness as she promises to devote herself both physically and spiritually to her son Laurent, who has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. She spends every minute of spare time with her beloved young boy with the goal to elongate his limited life expectancy. One day, when Laurent begins to be infatuated by Véronique, a new girl in his class-- who, incidentally, also has Down syndrome-- Jacqueline is struck by an overwhelming feeling as she fears that her inseparable bond with the only person she loves will be be lost with time.

Up until the very end of the film, it seems like the only link between both stories is the music the characters listen to (the jazz album "Café de flore" appears in the second story while a certain remix is featured in the first one), but as we progress further into this mystical mystery, we learn that there is something much deeper tying together the characters and their stories of love and loss.

Knowing that "Café de flore" would be composed of intertwined stories, I was initially a little reluctant to seeing it and very worried that its structure would collapse within the first few minutes of the film. To my pleasant surprise, this modern approach to storytelling proved to be ultimately rewarding. I believe credit is due to the film editor, who is-- believe it or not-- Jean-Marc Vallée, again. It's nice to hear that he had control of almost every visual aspect of his own work of art. With Vallée's perfectly orchestrated editing, the audience is able to follow the story without ever sensing an abrupt switch between story lines. In the film's entirety, not once did I feel that some scenes were fragmented or disjointed from others. Vallée always progresses deeper into his creation by carefully and seamlessly shifting between narratives just at the right time, creating a smooth, fluid tempo. Briefly, everything flows like a river.

(Read the full review at nickplusmovies.blogspot.com)

Jean-Marc Vallée returns to his beloved Québécois roots with his latest work, "Café de flore", one of the many films that screened at TIFF back in September (and that I was lucky enough to see). The story is composed of two interwoven narratives that-- only at first glance-- seem completely unrelated to one another.

The first story is set in present-day Montreal and centers on a recently divorced father of two girls, Antoine Godin (Kevin Parent), who leads a successful life as a professional DJ. Despite having found true happiness in his relationship with his girlfriend Rose (Evelyne Brochu), he feels a little remorseful for having left his ex-wife Carole (Hélène Florent), for whom he still cares deeply. Antoine understands that she continues struggling to move on with her life, heartbroken. And to make the situation in which they find themselves even more difficult, their eldest daughter persistently plays their nostalgic love song with hopes of reuniting her parents.

The second story is set in Paris in 1969 and focuses on Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis), a self-sufficient, loving single mother who becomes the embodiment of perseverance and selflessness as she promises to devote herself both physically and spiritually to her son Laurent, who has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. She spends every minute of spare time with her beloved young boy with the goal to elongate his limited life expectancy. One day, when Laurent begins to be infatuated by Véronique, a new girl in his class-- who, incidentally, also has Down syndrome-- Jacqueline is struck by an overwhelming feeling as she fears that her inseparable bond with the only person she loves will be be lost with time.

Up until the very end of the film, it seems like the only link between both stories is the music the characters listen to (the jazz album "Café de flore" appears in the second story while a certain remix is featured in the first one), but as we progress further into this mystical mystery, we learn that there is something much deeper tying together the characters and their stories of love and loss.

Knowing that "Café de flore" would be composed of intertwined stories, I was initially a little reluctant to seeing it and very worried that its structure would collapse within the first few minutes of the film. To my pleasant surprise, this modern approach to storytelling proved to be ultimately rewarding. I believe credit is due to the film editor, who is-- believe it or not-- Jean-Marc Vallée, again. It's nice to hear that he had control of almost every visual aspect of his own work of art. With Vallée's perfectly orchestrated editing, the audience is able to follow the story without ever sensing an abrupt switch between story lines. In the film's entirety, not once did I feel that some scenes were fragmented or disjointed from others. Vallée always progresses deeper into his creation by carefully and seamlessly shifting between narratives just at the right time, creating a smooth, fluid tempo. Briefly, everything flows like a river.

Just like in "C.R.A.Z.Y.", music is a vital element to this film. Jean- Marc Vallée selects many tunes with ethereal, ambient qualities to match the profound thoughts and feelings of all the characters. While he features some more Pink Floyd ("Speak to Me/Breathe"), he makes of Sigur Ros's "Svefn-g-englar" the film's most haunting musical piece-- by far.

There are far too many impressive performances in "Café de flore" to name. Vallée must be what one would call an "actor's director", because he seems to continuously squeeze out the most confident, natural performances from all of his actors-- young or old-- in order to achieve his goal to craft a realistic family drama. He even went to the lengths of finding two children who have Down syndrome in real life for the roles of Laurent and Véronique (these are two "performances" that will make your jaw drop). This is proof of his everlasting adherence to realism as a filmmaker.

In sum, "Café de flore" is a sensual, deeply touching chef-d'oeuvre that will have you shivering every minute in pure emotional awe. It never comes across as overly sentimental, but rather genuinely heartfelt. I can't recall the last time I found myself on the verge of tears while simultaneously smiling at the bittersweet beauty of a film. Come to think of it, there isn't a single movie from 2011 that I could recommend seeing more than this one. I believe it's an essential viewing for anyone who has felt the most fundamental of human emotions. (That means you... I hope)

"If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be." – Anonymous

Love is about holding on to someone, but it is also about knowing when to let go. This theme defines Jean-Marc Vallée's Café de flore, his second film since the 2005 hit C.R.A.Z.Y., and one of the most poignant films in recent memory. Not only does Café de flore repeat Vallée's earlier success, but goes far beyond it in its extraordinary ability to capture the intensity of deeply-felt human emotion. The title refers not to the famous Paris café, but to a jazzy song with the same name that serves as a connection between each of the film's two parallel stories. In addition to the title song, music plays a large role in the film as it did in C.R.A.Z.Y. with songs from Pink Floyd, Sigur Rós, and The Cure supporting key points in the narrative.

Unfolding with a non-linear script that includes multiple flashbacks, flash-forwards, and cross-cutting, the stories take place in two time periods over forty years apart. In the present day, Antoine (Kevin Parent) is a well-to-do middle-aged disc jockey who lives in a suburban home with his partner Rose (Evelyne Brochu) and his two daughters from a former marriage (Joanny Corbeil-Picher, Rosalie Fortier). Everything looks wonderful on the surface except that Antoine is visiting a psychiatrist to handle his feelings about what he feels is betrayal of his family. Antoine's first wife Carole (Hélène Florent) is distraught and yearns for reconciliation with the man she has always thought of as her soul mate since they came together as teenagers out of a shared love of music.

Carole is urged by friends to let go of Antoine and move on, but she is obsessed with getting him back, telling her friend, "I've never kissed another man." She takes drugs to help her sleep, sleepwalks in the middle of the night, and has dreams and waking visions of a strange woman in Paris many years ago experiencing a similar pain in her relationship. To help her understand her visions, Carole visits a spiritual adviser who tells her that her dreams are not a coincidence. The parallel story is set in Paris in 1969, Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis), a single mother cares for her young son Laurent (Lucas Bonin) who was born with Down's syndrome. She was abandoned by her husband after Laurent's birth because he did not want to be a "missionary."

Jacqueline is a devoted mother, showering her son with love, and intending to ensure that he lives past the norm of twenty-five years for a person with his condition. When she enrolls him in a normal school, she constantly protects him from bullies and also from teachers who are not willing or able to deal with him. Jacqueline wants to train Laurent to defend himself by learning how to box but, when he rebels at the idea, she teaches him to strike back through words which he uses to peak efficiency at the right moment.

When Laurent is seven, he develops a close attachment to Veronique, another Down's syndrome child, an attachment that threatens his mother's obsessive protection and leads to an unforeseen turn in their relationship. Café de flore is a passionately performed and spiritually resonant film, one of the best I've seen this year. Reminiscent of Terence Malick's Tree of Life with its voice-overs reflecting the inner thoughts of the characters, it is a haunting experience and the mystical connection between its two stories will keep you in a Donnie Darko-like state of puzzlement long into the night and beyond.

Firstly, disregard the two previous reviews, for they are both negative and underrate a great film. 'Cafe de Flore' is not quite for everyone, which I can understand. However if you truly want to see this film, ignore other opinions, otherwise you will miss out on a potential Oscar nomination.

There are two separate stories occurring. One is about a woman in the 1960s (Paradis) who has to raise her son on her own, because he has Down's syndrome. The other is about a music jockey named Antoine (Parent) who is ready to marry again despite the bond he shares with his ex-wife, who was also his first love. His eldest daughter purposely plays certain songs which remind him of their marriage, since the central idea is how music recalls certain memories. Every time a certain song is heard in the background, one is bound to step inside the characters memories.

The other story is the beauty of a mother-son relationship. Paradis is genuine in this role, especially being a real-life mother herself. Her makeup ages her to portray her role well. We see how she encourages her boy to learn despite his disabilities. Remember, this was an era where children like him were discriminated and often sent to institutions.

'Cafe de Flore' is truly a story about the power of love. You have to follow closely, therefore if easily distracted the flashbacks may confuse you. The constant repetition of Pink Floyd, which was also a signature band for Jean-Marc Vallee's 'C.R.A.Z.Y.', is synchronized to perfection. The visuals and acting performances are moving, as the film unfolds by layer, to at last reveal how both stories are connected.

Cafe de Flore proposes two somewhat strange parallel story lines, that of a single mother of a Down's Syndrome boy in 1960's Paris, alongside that of a narcissistic professional DJ living in modern day Montreal, Canada. Throughout the film I expected these two disparate stories to somehow meet in some tangible form, but this part of the film remains a bit of a mystery... perhaps staying in some kind of spiritual realm. That aspect of the film is somewhat confusing, and may be a bit off-putting to many viewers. I thought it a bit strange, but overall I think this is a great film. Even though this parallel story line is pretty bizarre, the filming, especially the Paris scenes, are superb, the acting is great, and the connection between mother and son is incredible. I thought the character of the young Down's syndrome girl could have been fleshed out a bit more, but apart from that its a very watchable film with great music and well crafted performances. Nice work.

If you can make the leap of faith required in the final portion of the movie, this is a beautiful, haunting work that will stay with you long after you have left the theater. There is no question that this movie asks a lot of one's suspension of disbelief. But I think that movie goers should give it the benefit of a doubt. This is a very unconventional love story, and it may be the most thoughtful movie every made about the idea that one person can be another person's soul mate. The tension of course arises when what does one do when one finds a deeper, more meaningful soul mate. This is a complex work with a totally different way of investigating its romantic themes. It uses music beautifully as a thread that joins elements of the film together, binding emotional themes together and providing transitions between the two stories that it tells. I can't think of another movie that finds such an unique approach to telling its tale.It is also the best Canadian film that I have seen in years. One of the very best movies of the year.

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. I usually dislike indie films and their lack of plot (Las Acacias) or often, even endings.

This was a real movie, about real emotions, and really imperfect individuals. Beautiful energy as added with the music, the emotions were aptly and strongly felt with its aid.

The subplot of past lives makes one wonder whether or not one believes in it, and if so how much? Just breathtaking. Even if you don't love it as much as I do, it is a worthy film worth viewing and giving an open hearted chance to. Who knows? You might be moved, you hard nosed cynicist, you :)

I am afraid I do not agree with the acclaim this film has received on IDMB. It's just an OK film, which towards the end takes a mystic turn which spoils it entirely for me. Other reviews have mentioned "if you can suspend your disbelief," well I suppose that in the context of this film, I can't. Of course, one could try to refuse the mystic reading, and that would work up to the end credits. In greater detail, I found the contemporary (Canadian) part of the story excellent, believable, interesting, true, engaging and very well told. On the contrary, I found the sixties (Parisienne) part of the story dull and boring, and difficult to believe. All in all, certainly a dignified effort from the director and screenwriters, but a film that I would only recommend half-heartedly.

I scared myself when I cried with the Sigur Ros song in the film, out of blue, in the dark cinema with only 3 other strange people there.

This is a film about dream and love, and what are you supposed to do if your dream is all about the one you love, and what if you spend all your life protecting a dream that never meant to belong to you. This is the question in front of Jacqueline and Carole. After all, having a dream that connected to human beings is a dangerous thing to do.

Using two parallel story lines is no more a novelty in film making. Yet the film does not give us much information on the relation between the two very different stories—a single mother, Jacqueline, with her Down's syndrome son, Laurent, in 1960s and a couple (Carole and Antonio) facing betrayal and the sequential mental stress today. The only correlations between them are Carole's strange dreams and "Cafe de Flore"—the songs with the same name that people from two spaces and times happened to play. Two and a half hours is a long duration for an independent art film, and in most of the time, these two stories are separately told, slowly and beautifully, and I thought maybe that's it, there would be no overlap between the two stories, until Carole figured out her connection with the mother and son from the last life.

I watched Cafe de Flore by myself in a small cinema in the suburb of London. Tranquillity is all you need when encountering a beautiful film like this. Crying like a baby in the cinema, I had to sit there for a while until the film credits finished in order to give myself some time to look normal before going out. And the film is such a great comfort for some reason, it's cathartic.

The original soundtrack is another important reason to make the film so moving. Interestingly, Sigur Ros's music video svefn-g-englar featured with Down's syndrome dancers, could be the initial inspiration of Cafe de Flore?

'Cafe de Flore' is a an unusual film. It's deceptively ambitious, but unfortunately its ambitions extend only to being ambitious as an end in itself, a movie whose complexity is unmatched by actually having anything to say. It begins as a montage of heartwarming scenes and images, telling us one story of success and happiness, another of pluck and courage, and whose overall message appears to be nothing more than that love is lovely for the beautiful people. But just when you might otherwise be starting to pull out the sick-bags, the film gets darker, although the treatment of the characters' lives remains somewhat superficial: while the aftermath of a break-up between two of the leading protagonists is at the centre of one of the plots, its details are (seemingly deliberately) denied us. What gives the film its structure, however, is the link between the two stories, which at first is also denied us, but is eventually revealed: one of the characters is dreaming (or remembering, from a past existence), the life of an another. The film never quite abandons its realistic underpinnings, but ends up in no-man's land: the link is insufficiently explicit to make this a ghost story, but as a mere suggestion, it's a remarkably flimsy basis to hold the story together. Director Jean-Marc Vallee successfully adds some tension as the brings the two stories to climax in partnership, as if they were really the same story; but from a little distance, it's very unclear what this concordance is supposed to imply or signify. A final clue hidden in the credits provides a 'Shining'-esque conclusion (but one equally unenlightening as the end of that movie)

This film is visually beautiful, the acting superb. However, I don't recommend it. The "mystical" connection between the two story lines absolutely does not work. The story line with Jacqueline is touching, and occupies far too little of the screen time. Vanessa Paradis is amazing, and her interactions with her son are touching and sad, as you recognize her life revolves completely around him as see struggles to raise him alone after his father leaves. On the other hand, I found the misogynistic tale of Antoine very off-putting. A narcissistic man leaves his beautiful, intelligent wife of 20 years for a vapid, tattooed, insecure younger woman with whom he appears to have no common interest other than sex. How original. Great role model he is for his teenage daughter, who hates him, by the way. Big surprise. Unfortunately, the daughter is the only female who stands up to him and calls him out for the cochon that he is. The other women in his life are just waiting with bated breath to see whether he chooses to allow them to continue making him the center of their worlds. I am really tired of this story line having seen it too many times, and I didn't enjoy this film as a result.

IMHO there are two categories of movies: the ones that impress me when I see it, like Hollywood blockbusters which shock me with stunning visual effects, or action scenes, or dramas. There is another category, that don't produce much of an impression when I see it, I get even bored wondering myself why did I pay the ticket for it. But.. suddenly after a couple of hours, or days, they become alive inside me and haunt me after. "Cafe De Flore" is one of those! It doesn't have a story to tell, it is pure art. The authors plant a seed that is intended to grow inside the viewer. It doesn't try to convince you of anything, doesn't draw a conclusion in the end, just places frame after frame and leave the interpretation to you. I would rate it 8 out of 10. regards, Andrei

This film is simply beautiful.

It's not complicated. It is simply a movie about love. The images are beautiful and the actors are beautiful. The story line is just there to weave from one example of love to another. It (the movie) caresses many facets and types of love.

I stopped trying to understand what anything meant about 5 minute into the movie. I just went along for the ride. I found the movie touching - a good reminder of what life is all about.

I highly recommend it. It's a great way to pass a few hours in the presence of beautiful emotions and images.

The cinematography, the use of music and a very dynamic editing (done by Vallée himself) are the strong features of this movie.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the 'meat', script, dialogue and acting, the movie is showing weakness. All the main characters are badly played, partly because they don't have a lot to say, partly because the casting is bad. The only good acting is from the 2 kids with Down syndrome.

When he comes to 'explain' the characters, Vallée uses very little dialogue. So half of the movie is just watching the main characters smiling stupidly in front of the camera. Or talking to a psychiatrist (I prefer to understand a character in a way that is not a lazy shortcut like this interview).

Overall, a movie that reminds me a little bit of Kieślowski (Double life of Veronique) or Terence Malick (the conflict 'resolution' at the end of Tree Of Life).

Ambitious movie that only partially succeed.

Café de Flore in one word *Masterpiece* -If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be."

Enjoy !

Set in contemporary Montreal and 1960s Paris, CAFE DE FLORE comprises two parallel tales: the first involving Antoine, a contemporary DJ (Kevin Parent), his ex-wife Carole (Helene Florent) and his current girlfriend Rose (Evelyne Brochu): the other set in the Sixties with a mother Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis) trying to look after her son Laurent (Marrin Gerrier) who suffers from Downs Syndrome. At first it seems that the two stories are completely disparate: in the contemporary tale the main emphasis is on Antoine's desire to rid himself of past associations, yet finding it very difficult when his ex-wife believes that she is still attached to him: in the Sixties tale Jacqueline battles for her son's right to an education in the face of a world that is not just indifferent but actively prejudiced against her son. The only perceptible link between the tales seems to be the use of popular songs (such as "Café de Flore") and the repeated shot of an album cover of songs in praise of women that appears in both tales. As the film unfolds, however, so we understand how director Jean-Marc Vallée is preoccupied with the theme of obsession: both Jacqueline and Carole seem unnaturally attached to their nearest and dearest - so much so, in fact, that they find it increasingly difficult to let go. Jacqueline suffers acute feelings of jealousy when Laurent finds a girl friend Véronique (Alice DuBois), while Carole consults a medium (Emmanuelle Beaugrand- Champagne) to see whether there is anything in her past that might explain her feelings for Antoine. The dénouement reveals that there is more than just a tangential link between Jacqueline and Carole, which has a lot to do with the perpetual presence of the past within the present. Vallée's film has a disjointed narrative structure, with many fast cuts between scenes, as well as the introduction of short dream sequences comprised of bright colors. It takes a bit of getting used to, but at the end we understand that the director is trying to explore the psychological state of mind of his two principal female characters cinematically, as well as telling a story.

Whether the film works as a cohesive piece is a different matter. We understand the basic implications of the story by means of an (uncredited) narrator who sets the scene for the film, but she is never heard again after the first thirty minutes. As a screenwriter, Vallée does spring some pleasurable surprises - especially at the end, which is quite upbeat, in view of the subject-matter. He handles character extremely well: the delineations between the two central female protagonists are clearly identified, and extremely well defined by Paradis and Florent. But I was still left feeling that the visuals rather detracted from what was in essence a highly powerful story.

Nowadays there are few films which have ability to provoke thoughts and leave a lasting impression. Cafe de Flore was one movie i was easily going to skip but i forced myself to see the trailer once before cutting the title off my list. The trailer was enough to compel me watch the film and thus i did. Now, i have got to say this is the best movie so far of 2012.

The movie is a revelation by all means, it's something we haven't seen before and to experience such a quality cinema these days is a rarity. To write too much about the plot would be unfair but it revolves around to parallel stories, one in Paris 1960's about a mother and her mongoloid son and the other in contemporary Montreal about a DJ who give up his first love for another girl.

The acting in this ensemble drama is a complete standout. The ones which leave a mark are Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent and child star Marin Gerrier.

I would have to praise the director Jean-Marc Vallee for making a film with such innovation in film making. His style and approach is completely different, the movie is in fragments put together. Different characters, periods, ages and subplots all jumbled and the element that binds the movie together is music. Movie uses the music in a best way possible, it transcends the movie high and creates an effect which would be impossible to create without such brilliant use of music.

I could have given the film 10 but a little improvement towards the ending could have helped make it a masterpiece. I won't write about that. Also a little further development in few characters would have been better.

I think the movie wouldn't have been of such intensity if it wasn't made in such bizarre manner, it confuses you, gives answers and makes you think. Still i believe the movie won't be praised by everyone, it requires people who like experiencing something unconventional and strange yet plausible. Perfect example of modern movie making and totally unique love story with near perfect impact.