Daddy Nostalgia Reviews

Since making his feature directorial debut with THE CLOCKMAKER in 1973, ex-critic Bertrand Tavernier has developed an impressive reputation for sensitively wrought, finely crafted fare. DADDY NOSTALGIA, his latest, is a small but worthy addition to the Tavernier canon. Tony (Dirk Borgarde) is a weary expatriate Brit who has retired to a villa on the Cote d'Azur with his taciturn French wife, Miche (Odette Laure). His estranged daughter, Caroline (Jane Birkin), is a screenwriter living in Paris. She hasn't been close to her father, who neglected her as a child, but nonetheless drops everything to come to his side when she hears he's undergone a serious heart operation. He recovers, and she moves into her parents' villa. Gradually, the communication gap between father and daughter is bridged as that between husband and wife widens. Dirk Bogarde, in his first appearance since Fassbinder's DESPAIR in 1978, makes a welcome return to the screen, while Birkin and Laure lend capable support. Throughout, this slight but affecting film, essentially a chamber piece for three characters, gleams with Tavernier's quietly assured professionalism.