TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE Movie Review

All the Mornings of the World

One of the most unusual films—at least in subject—to ever become an American art house hit, Alain Corneau's hauntingly beautiful Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World) is the story of two 17th-century baroque composers. Gérard Depardieu portrays the aged and ailing Marin Marais, who became a successful court musician and composer at Versailles. As a young man, Marais was the protege of Sainte Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle), a secretive and spiritual musician whose life was—and still is—largely a mystery. The bulk of the film is formed from flashback sequences in which the young Marais studies with the brilliant and ethereal Sainte Colombe, but provokes his teacher's wrath by having an affair with one of his daughters (Anne Brochet). When he's tossed out of the Sainte Colombe household, Marais acquires what he believes to be “enough” talent by listening to his teacher from a hiding place in the Sainte Colombe barn; deciding one day that his skills are adequate, he departs for a lucrative professional life, having never reached the point at which he even begins to share Sainte Colombe's almost holy connection with his music. Much later in his life, he will regret his haste. The young Marais is played in the film by Guillaume Depardieu, Gérard's son. It's his film debut, and he proves to be a captivating and gently expressive performer. Everything in the film shows enormous care and thoughtfulness, from its evocative cinematography to the extraordinary musical score, recorded with original instruments of the period. (If CDs wore out the same way LPs used to, my prized soundtrack CD from Tous les Matins du Monde would have shredded years ago.) César Awards for Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, and Supporting Actress (Brochet).

NEXT STOP … Un Coeur en Hiver, Amadeus, On the Waterfront

1992 114m/C FR Gerard Depardieu, Guillaume Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Anne Brochet, Caroline Sihol, Carole Richert, Violaine Lacroix, Nadege Teron, Miriam Boyer, Michel Bouquet; D: Alain Corneau; W: Pascal Quignard, Alain Corneau; C: Yves Angelo; M: Jordi Savall. Cesar Awards ‘92: Best Cinematography, Best Director (Corneau), Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (Brochet), Best Score. VHS, LV TOU