Desplechin

Legend has it that Europeans enjoy bolder, looser, more free-spirited lives than North Americans—lives like over-filled wine glasses, spilling over with sex and romance. Well, I today I saw a couple of movies about those wild and crazy Europeans, two ensemble pieces about flamboyantly messed-up lives. Arnaud Desplechin’s Un Comte de Noel (A Christmas Tale) offered a view of Europe from the inside, France to be precise. The other was a view from the outside—from Woody Allen, the ultimate outsider, who has taken another jaunt into directorial tourism. Both films are both ensemble pieces, but worlds apart.