Gabrielle, Elsa, and Mao are siblings, but they don’t interact. Definitely not. The first is a “statue” for tourists, much to the dismay of her teenage son. Elsa is angry at the entire world and desperate to get pregnant. And Mao, a genius yet chronically depressed game designer…
A typical story of family relationships, a slice of life between two funerals of the previous generation, the different characters are particularly well-crafted with interesting psychological profiles.
Souls in pain who will make you laugh, but above all, will touch you a little, a lot, deeply, especially if you identify with them. “Photo de famille” skillfully juggles between family tragedy and humor, both well-balanced in an effortlessly candid manner.
To get to the heart of the matter, the melancholic atmosphere shifts within a rather symptomatic cliché, that of family issues with the senile grandmother character at the center who unifies.
A peculiar impression lingers throughout “Photo de famille.” Each scene is incomplete, due to their brevity which is likely intentional to provide rhythm, with a spin at the end. And then we move to the next one, just as short and scarcely remarkable.
The excellence of the cast—Vanessa Paradis, Camille Cottin, Pierre Deladonchamps play the siblings, Jean-Pierre Bacri the father—adds an extra soul to the film.
