The Criterion Collection

Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale may not be the most sugary of holiday treats, but critics are spreading cheer all over this sweet-and-sour family-reunion drama, now available in Criterion Blu-ray and DVD editions. Paper’s Dennis Dermody writes that this “magnificent tapestry about these tormented, talented ‘Gallic Tenenbaums’ is both fascinating and heart-wrenching.” A review at Flavorpill of this “lovely, novelistic drama” is similarly celebratory: “Desplechin creates a tale overflowing with poetry, tenderness (and its opposite), iris effects, and visual and verbal nods to everything from the New Wave to Emerson.” DVD Talk’s Jamie S. Rich calls this “a wonderful release of a fantastic film. Arnaud Desplechin’s richly layered story of one French family’s crises and reconciliation over a holiday is touching, surprising, and all-around involving.” Finally, in his second look at this “spirited, vibrant film” in the Los Angeles Times, Dennis Lim reminds us that “A Christmas Tale is certainly in the spirit of seasonal overindulgence, but Desplechin’s excesses are a mark both of his generosity and of his belief in the irreducible complexity of human behavior.”

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