CAFE DE FLORE (Jean-Marc Vallee). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNNN
After flirting with conventionality in The Young Victoria, writer/director Jean-Marc Vallee returns to the fluid, intuitive filmmaking that made him a sensation with C.R.A.Z.Y. In Cafe De Flore, he spins a complex, time-jumping narrative involving a present-day Montreal father (Kevin Parent) in the throes of a mid-life crisis and the mother (Vanessa Paradis) of a Down syndrome child in 1969 Paris.
Parent’s character is a DJ, and that’s the role Vallee assumes as a filmmaker, tracking powerful emotional beats against themes sampled from Krzysztof Kieslowski, Nicolas Roeg and early Denis Villeneuve.
Some people are going to hate it I found it bracing, daring and entirely invigorating. A word of advice, though: when the credits start rolling, remain seated.
