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Cafe de Flore (15)

Cafe de Flore (15)

Drama, Romance

A love story between a man and woman. And between a mother and her son. A mystical and fantastical odyssey on love.


The critical consensus

Vallée appears content to put his audience through the emotional wringer for no discernible purpose, and the result is a film that is objectionable and ultimately pointless.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Paul Gallagher, The List, 17/04/2012

Beautiful, resonant, occasionally exasperating.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 07/05/2012

Half the fascination is how Vallee is going to knit the stories together, and for a time it looks as though he might pull off the same kind of satisfying trick as The Time Traveller's Wife. But there's too much going on here, and trying to make sense of the swirl of half-formed ideas is a chore.

**(*)(*)(*)Alison Rowat, The Herald, 10/05/2012

This barking mad, cosmically entwined love story from French-Canadian director Jean Marc Valée (C.R.A.Z.Y. and the dreary Young Victoria) is built around such a dreadful, horribly pretentious and thoroughly offensive idea, it’s tempting to reveal the twist at the outset.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 10/05/2012

Beneath the surface panache lies an overlong, emotionally shallow study of so-called ‘twin flames’, possible reincarnation and learning to let go of love.

**(*)(*)(*)Tom Dawson, Total Film, 04/05/2012

Disappointing, frustrating nonsense.

Omer Ali, Little White Lies, 10/05/2012

Even if you don't buy the fey talk of "twin flames" and the late-arriving psychic who tries to explain it all, there's merit enough in the dreamy, Malick-style compositions and a handful of terrific performances.

***(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 11/05/2012

Remove the subtitles, and it's one of Cameron Crowe's head-in-the-clouds dramas, as scripted by M Night Shyamalan: an insultingly arbitrary reveal, preceded by vast, wailing washes of Pink Floyd and Sigur Rós. A very vanilla sky, this.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Mike McCahill, The Guardian, 10/05/2012

It is often hard to discern a link between the two stories and when it does appear it takes a lot of swallowing. The compensations are fine performances and some intense reflections on the casualties of love.

***(*)(*)Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 11/05/2012

When everything eventually ties together, the chances are you’ll be left confused and exasperated.

**(*)(*)(*)David Edwards, Daily Record, 11/05/2012

Young Victoria director Vallée tackles something altogether more complex with equal flair, even if his two storylines never quite gel.

***(*)(*)Ian Freer, Empire Online, 11/05/2012

The French story is fascinating and beautifully acted, the French-Canadian one is romantic daytime TV drivel, and the links between them – mystic, metaphysical, musical – do not lead towards resonance or enlightenment.

Philip French, The Observer, 13/05/2012

Archly pretentious but well made.

***(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 16/05/2012

Gallingly fractured.

**(*)(*)(*)Callum Madge, TV Bomb, 21/05/2012

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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