Writers: François Ozon and Philippe Piazzo
Director: François Ozon
A French family drama by François Ozon and Philippe Piazzo, this unusual rural story examines the impact of the past on subsequent generations as Michelle’s former career affects the attitudes of her daughter and, even briefly, her grandson. When Fall is Coming, screening at the BFI London Film Festival 2024, is about second chances and not being defined by a single event or choice, while what it means to live a good life is less one of morality than what is in the character’s hearts.
After accidentally poisoning her daughter with mushrooms, Michelle is distraught when she and grandson Lucas leave early with Michelle now worried about her memory lapses. When best friend Marie-Claude’s adult son Vincent is release from prison, Michelle decides to help him to start the bar he has always wanted, but an accident might threaten their new contentment.
Audiences will adore the character of Michelle, a stylish older women in excellent knitwear, who looks amazing even when tidying the garden, and they will feel for her in the aftermath of the film’s major event. Despite what happened later, Ozon and Piazzo aren’t especially interested in exploring motivation and whether Michelle may have acted intentionally, even though her daughter is only concerned in her mother’s money. Instead, the writers present a vibrant, multi-dimensional and sometimes lonely woman who just wants to care for people and enjoy the quiet happiness of her lovely country home.
That pushes ambiguity aside for other characters as well, perhaps to the detriment of the film’s dramatic drive as we learn nothing about Vincent’s prison sentence, the concerns that his own mother has about him or why he remains so close to Michelle. Is there more to this relationship that good heartedness and community, should we suspect something more than meets the eyes could be between them? Ozon and Piazzo don’t care and instead just present the events of the story leaving the audience and a single police office to feel a suspicion that is never confirmed.
Hélène Vincent is a strong presence as Michelle who takes people as she finds them and hopes for the same from others but is never shocked or upset when she is reviled by strangers. Her close relationships with Lucas and Marie-Claude are filled with warmth that brings the film alive. Pierre Lottin as Vincent, Josiane Balasko Marie-Claude and even Ludivine Sagnier as her eternally angry daughter fill out this group across When Fall is Coming’s 105-minute running time.
A time leap ending adds nothing to the film in terms of themes and messaging but there is an essential humanism in this story that is very pleasing, considering not just the families you are connected to by blood but also those you make for yourself through loss.
When Fall is Coming is screening at the BFI London Film Festival 2024.
