It doesn’t take long to figure out that Gregoire (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) is a busy man. Juggling phone calls as he walks and drives the streets of Paris running his film production company Moon films, he’s clearly a man with a lot on his plate. But he also seems to be a warm and caring father and a loving husband – when he’s not on the phone trying to put out one work-related fire or another. Clearly he’s a man passionate about his work and film in general, but as the film progresses it starts to become clear that his juggling act has an increasing sense of desperation to it: money is tight, the business is running on credit that’s running out, and his options are narrowing.
At this point something happens upon which the entire film pivots: without giving too much away, everything changes and yet doesn’t change, as the films story (which, despite the title, turns out to be the story of Moon films rather than Gregoire's family) continues on its way. It’s certainly an interesting angle to take, but it does mean that a lot of the more personal plot threads are left dangling. It’s a look at a man’s life almost entirely through the lens of his work That makes it a somewhat restricted look, and though those restrictions are interesting in themselves, it does make this one of those films where the end is “a new beginning” – a beginning that seems more interesting than the film we just saw.
Anthony Morris (this review appeared in Forte #482)
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