Family Resemblances


Family Resemblances is a 1996 French comedy film. It was directed by Cédric Klapisch, and written by Klapisch, Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri. The film stars Bacri, Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Catherine Frot, Wladimir Yordanoff, Claire Maurier and Zinedine Soualem.
It won the César Award for Best Writing, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

Plot

An average French family ostensibly celebrates a birthday in a restaurant. In one evening and during one meal, family history, tensions, collective and separate grudges, delights, and memories both clash and coalesce. Indeed, poking each other's sore spots turns out to be the main order of business. Henri runs a saloon that he inherited from his father called "The Sleepy Dad," and in the near-empty bar, he plays host to several members of the family as they mark the 35th birthday of his sister-in-law, Yolande. Henri's sister, Betty, is 30, single, and not very happy about it; his brother, Philippe, is an executive in a growing software company; Mother is the siblings' strong-willed matriarch; and Henri's paralyzed dog is on hand, whom someone describes as "like a rug, but alive." It's not been a good day for most of them: Philippe is anxious that his boss might not have liked the tie he wore on television; Betty is depressed about the sad state of her current relationship; Henri has just learned that his wife is leaving him; and Mother is tossing caustic barbs at everyone left and right. Henri's bartender Denis is the one neutral party on hand, and he provides the voice of reason in the midst of the bickering.

Cast