Plot. Three grandchildren come to the village to see their grandfather, and everything would be standard if it weren’t for one small detail. The fact is that Grandpa Paul has never seen his grandchildren, he does not even know that they will come, and these three months will forever change his life. Paul's daughter hasn't spoken to him for 18 years because of the man she married. Now he's gone to another one, and she runs off to Montreal, snatching three kids off to her grandmother. Without thinking twice, Grandma takes them with her from Paris to Provence, from the capital to a small town where everyone knows each other. For children it is a living hell, they can not without the Internet, and what do they do in the village?
Which I liked. This film is not as simple as it seems, because new storylines are constantly emerging. For example, friends-bikers come unexpectedly, and not to the children, but to Grandpa Paul. Provence, field shooting, the leisurely rhythm of life. Actors. Jean Reno is still good, and the youngest actor is absolutely charming.
But this is not just a beautiful picture, a film with the idea that your family is your fortress, about how difficult it is to learn to trust and ask for forgiveness, about how you can turn life 180 degrees, and from a grumpy old man to become a beloved grandfather, mentor and friend.
It so happened that the first two weeks of May I spent in my country house: nature, air, work in the garden and garden – it was just space compared to what is happening to me now in the four walls of my small apartment. Missing those feelings of freedom, I came across the film Avis de mistral, which brought back that sense of serenity.
It's a story about mom flocking kids all summer to grandparents in the countryside (my did, and yours?). And from the very beginning, we understand that the conflict between fathers and children will be fundamental in this film, because the younger generation with their gadgets and constant Internet addiction always feel uncomfortable in a place where there is no connection (they will grow up and understand how hot it is in such places).
It’s nice to watch Jean Reno, who is usually used to seeing in a shootout with two pistols on the edge – here he is an ordinary gardener who constantly grumbles, cares for trees and periodically rolls in a bar with friends. He started himself, of course, but for the image is perfect! Especially when the ice between him and his grandchildren melts, and he begins to pass on life experience to his grandchildren.
Everything is beautiful in this film: nature, morality, picture, and soundtrack! And he's great and cheerful!
This film was recommended to me by a friend and I kept thinking about watching, not watching, but after reading the reviews I realized that the film is worthy, I need to watch.
You're right!
Where to start... The movie itself is very atmospheric, we get to provincial France with a eccentric grandfather, his wise wife, their know-how grandchildren and residents of the surrounding villages. Slow storytelling, with various tasty little things, interesting traditions and a rather soulful plot, help to plunge into the lives of these people with a head and smile at all sorts of graces and funny situations.
The hero of Jean Reno is a brutal grandfather who is obsessed with olive trees and loves them more than his grandchildren. Towards the end of the film, the grandchildren really managed to grow to the level of olives.
Paul (grandfather) is not very sociable and rather an introvert, but if you credibly trust him, it is already a friend for centuries. In general, conservative grandfather and grandchildren meet extremely cold. But! In the course of the film, we learn that grandparents in their time were those still hippies, the whole world on a motorcycle and hitchhiking went around, drugs were used, free love was practiced and generally burned not for children!
But then they settled down, started a family and started growing olives. But the friends of their youth, who come to them in the middle of the film, and continued to travel periodically and look more alive and joyful. That is, Paul and his wife (Grandma) are kind of also good, the daughter gave birth, the house was built, their grandchildren are fun, but you understand that in the evening near the fire with guitars and dances they are nostalgic for those “good old times” and youth was perhaps the most interesting period of their lives. In addition, Paul has not spoken to his daughter for 17 years, after she ran away from home and married against her father. “Vacations in Provence” is a good romantic comedy-melodrama, where you can find many questions-answers regarding the meaning of life, happiness, family, father-children-grandchildren relationship, forgiveness, etc.
Grandchildren performed by Chloe Juannet, South Dessois and Luc Pelissier turned out delicious, each with its own history in Provence and mission in relation to his grandfather. The whole film develops predictably, but this does not beg for its merits and atmosphericity. This is a good, positive, romantic movie. And it really is similar in style to "Good Year."
8 out of 10
There are many ways to spend the best time of the year. Some travel to distant and hot countries. Others prefer not to leave big, noisy cities. But what if circumstances force you to spend the summer in a remote province with a long-forgotten relative who wasn’t expecting you? Do not rush to answer, it is quite possible that this will be the best option of all.
Brother and sister Adrien and Lea, as well as their younger deaf-mute brother named Theo come, by fate, for the summer in Provence to Grandpa Paul. But the problem is that they had never seen him before, because their mother had broken up with him a long time ago. Paul himself is already quite accustomed to life in solitude and a sudden visit of relatives has him, to put it mildly, not to his liking.
The film vividly shows us the clash of views, stereotypes, as well as the perception of life by people of different times. An era of romanticism and adventure against the generation of gadgets and social media. No, there can be no better or worse, because both have something to share, and all the contradictions sooner or later will exhaust themselves.
Very pleasant unobtrusive presentation of the story, the narrative goes quite slowly, emphasizing the measured mood of the whole film. In addition, everything is seasoned with entertaining dialogues with subtle French humor. During the viewing, the picture will give a lot of beautiful and fascinating landscapes of Provence, in which it is worth paying tribute to the worthy work of the operator.
Acting also brings positive emotions. Of course, it is worth highlighting Jean Reno. Once again he shows us his great talent. And if earlier we were used to a certain brutality of most of his characters, now he perfectly portrayed an old grumpy man from a French village.
A light, warm and sunny film – like a breath of a past summer, it unobtrusively reminds us that it is never too late to forget old grievances and reopen lives.
7 out of 10
For reference: The Mistral is a cold northwesterly wind that dominates the Mediterranean coast of France during the spring months. There are other concepts of the word "mistral", but this is the most suitable, since the film is set in France. But other coincidences are rather conditional: the main character of the film farmer Paul (the great and unique Jean Reno) lives in a remote estate, and in the picture “Waiting for the Mistral” somehow does not mention that the Mediterranean Sea is nearby. And it blows in the spring months of the year, but everything happens during the summer holidays. But the very word caresses the rumor - "Mistral", beautiful, right? So, Paul lives almost a hermit, occasionally coming to the nearby town to pretty take on the chest, such a sin behind him is common. Paul rarely converges with people, even with his own daughter, he quarreled a long time ago, but one day she needed his help - she had to leave three of her children. To say that Paul is angry is to say nothing, and the kids, especially the two older ones, are real teenagers. But suddenly they recognize the grandfather from a completely different side, which, in principle, they themselves contributed, and look at this beard in a hat in a different way.
For Rosalyn Bosch, “The Mistral is Expected” (it is interesting that it was originally released under the title “Mistral Council”) is the third film in which she acts as a director. The first ("Animal) of 2005 went completely unnoticed, but the second - "The Raid" - became much more famous. Bosch discussed the persecution of Jews by the French at the beginning of World War II. The film was distinguished by the drama of historical events and the unvarnished cruelty of people. In this film, the secondary role of the doctor was played by Jean Reno, thus, “Mistral Expected” is the second joint picture of Reno and Bosch. In itself, the presence in the tape of the great French actor is like a deliberately conducted advertising campaign, the actor attracts his fans by his own name, even despite the fact that “Mistral is expected” – an independent film, deprived of a wide release in advance, but Reno does not shy away from such films, for which he is honored and praised, so he is not sick with star disease and he does not need huge money, he is a professional. In addition to him, you will not have to find someone famous in the film, many will generally play their first roles, but this is the special charm of the picture.
I can’t help but like the trio of young actors who played Paul’s grandchildren: Chloe Juannet (Lea), Yugo Dessua (Adrien) and Luc Pelissier (Theo). Lea and Adrian are children of their era, developed with the application of technological progress, easily cope with any gadgets. It is their small pampering, when they introduced their grandfather to the social network, that leads to the fact that several bosom friends visit him, and then Paul turns over in the eyes of his grandchildren. Some strong game from Joanne and Dessois do not have to wait, but you can not call a bad performance – everything is normal, as the picture asked. But Theo conquers with his smile, that he immediately reached for his grandfather, as he was on his shoulders with enthusiastic eyes. It looked so cute that Theo himself wanted to ride on his shoulders. And a special mention deserves Or Atika, who played the seller of ice cream and the first beauty of a small town. Adrian has a great sympathy for her, and who does not feel when a wide smile and carefree laughter win the hearts of people? There are several more or less iconic characters for the film, but still say more, besides the fact that they look organically in relation to the picture is quite difficult.
And a special moment is the transfer of a remote corner of France. Of course, the cameraman Stefan Le Park is not the most famous person, only two of his films somehow found their audience (the comedy “Pimp” and “Love with obstacles”, which became the film hit of the year in his country), but after his work in “Waited Mistral” there is hope that he will grow into a great master and more than once please the bright visual concept of films. It is the visualism in Expected Mistral that is a strong magnet that attracts the eye. This is not the crazy beauty of skillfully selected personnel, this is an honest and easy work on how ordinary people can actually live quite themselves, work behind an ice cream counter or maintain a farm, they know each other by name, and this is how they live - on their own, knowing how not to bother themselves with issues of survival in the urban world, have fun on any occasion. When you watch Stefan Le Park lovingly demonstrate these carefree people, but immediately you want to be there and listen to their conversations at a table in a cafe with a glass of beautiful wine.
A good, albeit not exquisite story about the complex relationship between grandfather and grandchildren, told in a small estate and a small town. I wonder if all three grandchildren will want to come to their grandfather? I'm sure they'll be waiting!
A sweet, sweet movie about family reunification. However, perhaps with all this the picture is worth seeing. It's all about two things. First of all, the performer of the main role. One of the coolest men in modern cinema is 66. And here he moves away from his usual role, playing an eccentric grandfather, who is given a second chance by fate and spent the summer together with his grandchildren changes his life. Reno is trying to be simple and charming. Even though it overplays a little, but it looks quite colorful strengthening the tape by the very fact of its presence.
The second nuance is Provence. All the action of the tape takes place in this region. Like Ridley Scott's "Good Year," everything goes into full praise of those places. That’s not bad, because nature is beautiful.
Maybe the Mistral lacks some deep moves, psychologicalism, but ordinary simplicity has its own gloss. For example, I liked the scene of communication deaf-mute grandson and his grandfather. There was a special touching and sincerity, covering the whole simple plot canvas.
5 out of 10
The film tells the story of one summer spent by the grandchildren with their grandfather in Provence, whom they had never seen before because of an old family quarrel.
Before us is life in the French village, in all its glory, quiet and measured, where the inhabitants are not in a hurry, and enjoy every day, with its local holidays, guitar songs and colorful inhabitants.
The movie turned out to be kind and vital, easy and soulful, bright and pleasant, telling easily about simple life things, life in the village, family values, misunderstanding between different generations.
It is also worth noting the wonderful actors who successfully fit into this film - Jean Reno, Anna Gallena, Or Atika and a pleasant soundtrack with familiar melodies that caress the ear.