A film that's not really about Christmas, but rather about a family's relationships -- the Vuillard family has gathered for Christmas - its matriarch Junon (the legendary Catherine Deneuve) is surrounded by her adult children, her husband, grandchildren -- and their collective dysfunction is passionately unsettling and emotionally rich.  Tragic histories merge with contemporary pressures as this family reunion unraffles.  With a stellar French ensemble cast, headed by the amazing Deneuve, "A Christmas Tale" is a darkly hillarious work by one of the contemporary masters of French cinema.

 

"Density of detail and intensity of experience are the twin distinctions of 'A Christmas Tale,' a long, improbably funny and very beautiful film." -- Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal