Aux Petits Bonheurs (Life's Little Treasures) is one of a number of interesting films made by Michel Deville,who left us in February of 2023,that never got a US release
Deville was sometimes drawn to ensemble stories like this one written by his wife which focuses on the first four days of a group of mostly aging wonen and men who share a country house during spring vacation time
The four episodes are centered on each of the women ,the most interesting of whom is Helene, played by the striking actress Anemone. In the first episode we share her curiosity as an observer ,arriving alone,at who the other people are and what they are up to
The film benefits from Deville,s fluid camera style and nice sense of how to block the different players in a scene,as well as the other performers such as Nicole Garcia ,Hanna Schygulla ,Andre Dusollier and Xavier Beauvois
The Canadian video I watched makes the misleading comparison with The Big Chill and The Decline of the American Empire. What those two and others like it such as Return of the Secaucus Seven had that this one lacks is any sense of a politics that the group or some of its members have been involved with
It is merely a pleasant and occasionally deeper look at a romantic roundelay among some still open and searching characters.
