'Poulet Aux Prunes' ('Chicken with plums') : a breathtaking experience

This morning my alarm clock rang insanely early.
9:45 definitely is insanely early. But sometime you have to fight against the withered mummy your body turned into during the night and be brave enough to get up. Eyes open, shower taken, it's now time for the hit.
A long queue is meandering in the hall of the UGC Rouen (yes, there are cinemas outside Paris. And even in Normandy) as I come in. Loads of people are not working today as tomorrow is a day off. But fortunately the 20th century is the Machines' Century so I don't have to queue with that lazy crowd. In the blink of an eye I've got my ticket in my pocket and begin to move toward my destiny : 'Poulets Aux Prunes'.

The film was released on October 26 and was directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, starring Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer and Maria de Medeiros. The story is quite simple to tell : a very famous Iranian violonist, Nasser Ali Khan (played by Mathieu Amalric) sees his violin being broken. He then tries to reach the satisfaction with new violins. But soon he'll have to face the situation : he can't play on any other instruments. This is the time he decides he'll let himself die.

The film is not the long waiting of his death as we see him dying very early. It is rather the story of hopes, love, passion, sadness and laughter. So Nasser Ali being dead we can focus on every single particles composing life. The man sometime shows an evident selfishness or even brutality with his wife (Maria de Medeiros) but this feeling always is contrasted with our understanding for his passion for music and his sensitivity to love.

The images are absolutely brillant and mix comedy with reality with cleverness and skill. If you add it to the terrific performance of all the actors you end up with a magical universe where philosophy, love, beauty and regrets live altogether in a natural peace.
Let's not forget Edouard Baer playing Azrael, the Angel of Death visiting Nasser Ali a few days before he takes him. He also is the voice over telling the story.

'Poulet Aux Prunes' is a simple story in a simple world but affecting complicated souls in their quest for the ultimate achievement. It is also the story of a man dying of love. What could be stronger and deeper in our world of surface?