CAFÉ De FLORE Presents a Mystifying Journey of Unquenchable, Everlasting, Eternal Love

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Sunday, 28 October 2012 21:25

Written by Janet Walker

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CAFÉ De FLORE, from Adopt films and Director Jean-Marc Vallee, brings to the screen an exquisite journey of self discovery, intrigue, unquenchable love and the intertwining of destinies.

Directed and written by Jean-Marc Vallee, CAFÉ De FLORE stars Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Helene Florent and Evelyne Brochu, all of whom give powerful, impacting and resonating performances. CAFÉ De FLORE is produced by Pierre Even and Marie-Claude Polin, in Canada, and co-produced by Vallee, and Nicolas Copperman and Jean-Yves Robin in France.

CAFÉ De FLORE is inviting on many levels, simply as artistic expression, noir in presentation, and deeper as one allows oneself to be absorbed in the story, to be drawn into and live through the eyes of the characters. CAFÉ De FLORE moves eloquently between contemporary Montreal and 1969 Paris. The viewer is taken on a mysterious journey, as the story of destiny, reincarnation, symbolism, past lives, dream guidance and soul mates are powerfully displayed.

The eternal love affair begins with a mother and her son, played brilliantly by Marin Gerrier, a child actor living with Down’s Syndrome, who in the role of Laurent is enchanting and captivating. He is beautiful, charming and talented, without inhibitions he lights up the screen with his performance. He is magnificent. His mother, Jacqueline, is embodied by the award winning French actress and international singing sensation Vanessa Paradis, also personifies her role. It appears the two had a natural bond and unity and one wonders if the making of the film was challenging as it flowed so beautifully. Veronique, in her first feature film role, the twin soul to Laurent is played by Alice Dubois, a child actor, also living with Down’s Syndrome.

As CAFÉ De FLORE weaves the two realities, the future and past, the love which when first manifests can never be realized. When the two meet they are challenged from within by their Down’s syndrome, undaunted and inseparable, they are in love, innately, this without knowledge or societal labels, boundaries or concerns, they love in, possibly, its purest sense. Without the expression of sexuality or the yearnings of physical desires, blind to all differences, determents, and limits; they love.

In contemporary Montreal, Antoine, the main character embodied by French Canadian singer Kevin Parent, faces the challenges of divorce, his aching daughters, his disapproving parents and his demons. His first love and love language are music.

The journey of self discovery, he, Antoine, his former wife Carole, captured by French Canadian actress/director, Helene Florent, and his new wife Rose, personified by French Canadian actress Evelyne Brochu, all reach out to professionals to help them as they navigate the unknown path ahead of them, and as the film touches on their deep and shackling addictions.

This eternal love presented in CAFÉ De FLORE, this purest of love travels to a time, or through a time, to another and finds itself in this life, reincarnated to live again. This time, as the unquenchable flame was reborn in other, destiny again circles and is again challenged by the circumstances, not physical or emotional challenges but the challenges associated with a strong family support system that discourages separation or divorce, with a life built, with a family loved by all.

Throughout the film, Carole/Florent, is tormented by reoccurring dreams and in order to understand herself and find comfort she researches her dreams, their meaning and the possibility of guidance through dreams.  Symbolically, through dreams and dream interpretation, the lovers who never had a chance to love find through time another who is able to realize and recognize love, is through prop placement and storyline portrayed.

As the storyline would have it, each of the characters has a character arch and all deliver deeply resonating, strong, emotional performances. The pain, torment unbearable and the depth of love, loneliness and the torture of unyielding addictions is very dramatically presented.

In French with English subtitles, CAFÉ De FLORE contains brief nudity and accompanying adult sexual situations. CAFÉ De FLORE is attention grabbing, resonating and a must see!