SILVER

[HORS DU TEMPS]
Olivier Assayas’ auto-fictional portrait of his and his close family’s life during their COVID quarantine, spent in the enviably comfortable confines of his family’s country home, stands apart from other cinematic attempts to represent that time for its sense of ironic humor, balancing droll self-deprecation with moving self-reflection. Vincent Macaigne (IRMA VEP (2022)) plays Paul (a stand-in for Assayas), a veteran filmmaker who, unable to work, alternates between reconnecting with his loved ones and fretting about his future projects. He shares the beloved family home with his documentarian girlfriend Morgane (Nine d’Urso), his music journalist brother Etienne (Micha Lescot) and Etienne’s partner Carole (Nora Hamzawi). Each day unfolds with some combination of tennis, reading, Zoom calls to Paul’s ex and beloved daughter, garden phone calls to his therapist, sibling spats with Etienne about the proper precautions and leisurely outdoor dinners where the brothers reminisce about their youth. Assayas inserts segments touring the house and its artifacts, narrated in his own voice, about the real-life Assayas family’s history, a fascinating counterpoint to the more comical narrative enacted by the cast. Ultimately, SUSPENDED TIME is less about the darkest days of the pandemic and more about the strange moments of slowing down, reflection and reconnection that happened along the way, told with wit, warmth and affection by a master filmmaker at his most autobiographical. –Todd Hitchcock

DIR/SCR/PROD Olivier Assayas; PROD Olivier Delbosc. France, 2024, color, 105 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED