2 Autumns, 3 Winters

Overview

Style inhibits substance in 2 Autumns, 3 Winters, a stilted French dramedy from writer-director Sébastien Betbeder. Chapter breaks, out-of-body experiences and a never-ending stream of voiceover are just a few of the tricks Betbeder throws haphazardly at his audience. Apparently no one told him that the French New Wave happened decades ago.

Truth be told, there's nothing even remotely 'new' about this self-conscious little indie, one in which the seeds of dramatic sincerity are smothered by constant affectation. For the most part, 2 Autumns plays less a film with a plot, and more a series of loosely related anecdotes. You know, the kind you might find yourself being forced to listen to at a party after accidentally getting trapped in a discussion with the vaguely pompous friend of a friend (the one who likes to reference obscure Swedish arthouse films into everyday conversation, yet can't fathom why no one will give him a job).

In any case, the chief storyteller here is Arman (Vincent Macaigne), a Parisian art school grad who, after 33 years of doing very little, decides to get his life in shape. His reinvention begins with a jog through the park, where he literally bumps into the beautiful (if somewhat regrettably named) Amélie (Maud Wyler). He falls for her immediately, although it's only after he gets stabbed in the stomach while saving her from two would-be rapists a few weeks later that the pair officially begin dating. You've got to give Betbeder credit: it's a pretty original meet-cute.

And so, for the next two autumns and three winters, we watch Armon and Amélie weather the trials of a long-term relationship. Both characters, we soon learn, have a tendency towards excessive self-analysis, which they exercise (at great length) in monologues spoken to the camera. Also getting in on the introspective action is Arman's best friend Benjamin (Bastien Bouillon), who like Arman discovers romance in an unexpected place.

While 2 Autumns belongs firmly in the category of 'quirky indie romance', Betbeder's movie has almost none of the charm or energy of Chinese Puzzle or (500) Days of Summer. In those films, the visual whimsy felt driven by the characters and the story. By comparison, the plot in Betbeder's film — to the extent that there even is one — feels basically like an afterthought.

On a more fundamental level, it's not particularly interesting listening to characters describe what's happening in front of us. "Tears rolled down Amélie's face," narrates Arman at one point (as we watch tears roll down Amélie's face). Yeah, no kidding.