Un dimanche à la campagne (1984)

Director:

Bertrand Tavernier

Writers:

Pierre Bost (novel)
Bertrand Tavernier (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

11 April 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In France, before WWI. As every Sunday, an old painter living in the country is visited by his son Gonzague...

Plot Keywords:

Painter | Rural | Period Piece | Visit | Family Relationships

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Louis Ducreux	...	Monsieur Ladmiral
Michel Aumont	...	Gonzague
Sabine Azéma	...	Irène (as Sabine Azema)
Geneviève Mnich	...	Marie-Thérèse (as Genevieve Mnich)
Monique Chaumette	...	Mercédès
Thomas Duval	...	Emile
Quentin Ogier	...	Lucien
Katia Wostrikoff	...	Mireille
Claude Winter	...	Madame Ladmiral
Jean-Roger Milo	...	Fisherman (Le pêcheur)
Pascale Vignal	...	A servant (La serveuse)
Jacques Poitrenaud	...	Hector (Patron guinguette)
Valentine Suard	...	Little girl (La petite fille 1)
Erika Faivre	...	Little girl (La petite fille 2)
Marc Perrone	...	Accordionist (L'accordéoniste)

Directed by
Bertrand Tavernier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pierre Bost		novel "Monsieur Ladmiral Va Bientot Mourir"
Bertrand Tavernier		writer
Colo Tavernier		writer

Produced by
Alain Sarde	....	delegate producer
Bertrand Tavernier	....	producer

Cinematography by
Bruno de Keyzer		(as Bruno De Keyzer)

Film Editing by
Armand Psenny

Production Design by
Patrice Mercier

Set Decoration by
Sylvie Salmon

Costume Design by
Yvonne Sassinot de Nesle		(as Yvonne Sassinot De Nesle)

Makeup Department
Sidonie Fontata	....	key hair stylist (as Sidonie)
Eric Muller	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Thibault Chevalier	....	unit manager trainee
Gérard Gaultier	....	production manager (as Gerard Gaultier)
Jean-François Lebas	....	unit manager trainee
Karl Lefay	....	unit manager trainee

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean Achache	....	first assistant director
Regine Dalnoky	....	second assistant director
Nadine Deichtmann	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Pierre Deseau	....	furniture
Michel Grimaud	....	property master
Jean-Pierre Zingo	....	paintings
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ariane Boeglin	....	chief sound editor
Jean Duguet	....	foley recordist
Jean-Pierre Lelong	....	foley artist
Bernard Leroux	....	sound mixer
Mario Melchiorri	....	assistant foley artist
Laurent Poirier	....	first sound assistant
Guillaume Sciama	....	sound engineer
Agnès Vaurigaud	....	assistant sound editor (as Agnes Vaurigaud)
Claude Villand	....	sound mixer
Jean-Marc Lentretien	....	sound mix technician (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Yves Angelo	....	first assistant camera
Gérard Bougeant	....	grip (as Gerard Bougeant)
Philippe Brun	....	camera operator
Alain Cousseau	....	electrician
Joël David	....	chief electrician
Jean-Pierre Fizet	....	still photographer
Charlie Freess	....	key grip (as Charles Freess)
Jean-Yves Freess	....	grip
Etienne George	....	still photographer (as Etienne Georges)
Alain Grestau	....	electrician
Jean Harnois	....	camera operator
Bernard Prim	....	still photographer
Nils Tavernier	....	camera trainee

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Monique Dury	....	costumer
Marthe Mikol	....	costumer
Lily Petit	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Françoise Lefèvre	....	assistant editor (as Françoise Lefevre)
Philippe Wampfler	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Louis Ducreux	....	composer: additional music
Marc Perrone	....	composer: additional music
Philippe Sarde	....	music arranger

Other crew
Monique Assouline	....	press attache
Claude Bertonazzi	....	production administrator
Frédéric Bourboulon	....	studio manager (as Fred Bourboulon)
Aline Corneille	....	production secretary
Fabien Dufour	....	location manager
Louis Grau	....	general administrator
Claudine Taulère	....	script supervisor (as Claudine Taulere)

Production Companies

• Films A2
• Little Bear
• Sara Films

Distributors

• AMLF (1984) (France) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye (????) (UK) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• MGM/UA Classics (????) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Vídeo Cassete do Brasil (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Le Quatuor Via Nova  music performers
• Éditions Gallimard  publisher

Also Known As:

A Sunday in the Country
Ein Sonntag auf dem Lande (West Germany) [de]
Mia kyriaki stin exohi (Greece) [el]
Sunnuntai maalla (Finland) [fi]
Um Domingo no Campo (Portugal) [pt]
Um Sonho de Domingo (Brazil) [pt]
Un domingo en el campo (Spain) [es]
Un domingo en la campiña (Argentina) [es]
Una domenica in campagna (Italy) [it]
Vidéki vasárnap (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

90 min | Sweden:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:G | West Germany:6

Company:

Films A2

Soundtrack:

Quintette pour piano et cordes Op. 115

Like a skilled filming of a family gathering

Bertrand Tavernier's "A Sunday in the Country" is an interesting experiment but not one I found myself very much drawn into. I have a feeling that as subjective as many films are this is really a film you either love or just don't get. I didn't get it.

Pierre Bost's novel which I read prior to seeing this film does a much better job of drawing you into this family and these characters than the script by Bertrand and Colo Tavernier does. While much in this film is of passing interest to the viewer and some of the lengthy conversations are well-written and realistic, much of the film covers the sort of mundane formalities I find boring at family gatherings. Bost's novel makes very similar content interesting by writing it a little differently.

The overall story of the film is fairly interesting with the lead character Monsieur Ladmiral being an interesting and captivating character. There are some brilliant moments in the film, including the final scene, but they really are outweighed by trivial, mundane happenings.

Does Tavernier succeed purely as a director here? Yes. The film is paced as well as it could possibly be with this script and it is gorgeously photographed and filmed with some of the best use of steadicam I can remember. It's just a shame this script is in general, despite the occasional burst of excellence and admirable handling of the film's themes, a bore.

Far from the director's best- see "Coup de torchon" and "Daddy Nostalgie" for some pretty faultless cinema.

6/10