Sentimental Destinies

At the start of the twentieth century, Jean Barnery, a Protestant pastor, leaves his wife and loses his congregation. He then has to take over the family porcelain factory. The film follows thirty years of his life alongside the France of the interwar period. It is not interested in a love story. It is interested in the weight of production: kiln temperatures, clay mixtures, wages and competition are the passages given the closest attention. Feelings stay in second place, and suppressed. The form runs close to three hours and crosses time in large jumps. Olivier Assayas, known for fast and modern films, attempts an entirely classical period narrative here. The source is Jacques Chardonne's novel. Emmanuelle Béart, Charles Berling and Isabelle Huppert star. Who it is for: viewers who like long period drama, the detail of a craft, and French literary adaptation. Who it is not for: impatient viewers. The film deliberately skips its emotional peaks and the distance between the characters never closes.