Daddy Nostalgia

Daddy Nostalgia (These Foolish Things in the UK) (French: Daddy Nostalgie) (1995) First Watched: 9/17/25 Director: Bertrand Tavernier Rating: 6/10 Stars

"Five Facts/Feelings Film Feedback"

1. This was Bogarde's last film. His last performance is bittersweet, as he is playing a father who could have done better and a different husband, reminiscing on his life during his final days.

2. Set during the final days of summer and the serene autumn days on the French Riviera, which makes for some magnificent scenery.

3. Birkin has a pleasantly melodious voice. It should not be surprising to learn that she has had a successful career as a singer- in addition to what she has recorded on various film soundtracks.

4. Chemistry between characters was lacking. Missing between Miche and Tony (mommy and daddy). Not very convincing between mommy and daughter. Gratefully, the strongest was between the most important relationship for the film, Caroline and her daddy.

5. The flow of the story would have benefited from better handling of the flashbacks. This hindrance, along with the sparse chemistry results in something a little overwhelming- yet still worth a watch for the tender depiction and wisdoms it manages to accord regarding dying and death.

This touching film bears up to repeated viewings for its subtlety and insight. I agree with all of the comments discussed by the two previous reviewers, Victoria and Les Halles.

By focussing on the "non-action" of daily life and daily conversation, Tavernier appears to present a nothing of a film, but in reality has captured something valuable and ephemeral -- the silent dialogue between a husband and wife after a long marriage and the discovery of love between a father and daughter, all of whom have to deal in their own way with his impending death.

The use as a coda of the haunting song "These foolish things remind me of you" as sung by Jane Birkin in her breathless voice has never been more apt. It should be noted from the credits that Tavernier dedicated this film to another cinema genius Michael Powell (of the team Powell & Pressberger). Like Powell, Dirk Bogarde, both in the film and in real life, was very English, but cosmopolitan in intellect and cultural tastes. These characteristics are brought out in Bogarde's portrayal and in Birkin's flashbacks of her early remembrances. The acting and inter-action of the three principals, Bogarde, Birkin and Laure, is so subtle as to not appear as such, again a tribute to their experience and rapport with the director.

For someone who has faced the recent death of a loved one, this film rings true, and the refrain from the song takes on a new dimension, not intended by the original lyricist.

*****Five stars for hitting its emotional target..

Dirk Bogarde is wonderful in his last film. Everything we remember from the past is here: the laconic smile, the raised eyebrow that seems to say Oh, really?, the perfect timing. Add to these the lassitude that comes to those whose hearts are functioning far below standard--the story starts just after his heart surgery. Jane Birkin is playing a character for once whose life is not a caricature, as it was in too many of her films--you don't remember the Gainsbourg years when you see her here. Odette Laure as the mother is new to me, but she plays very well indeed; she is the watchful manager of her husband's declining resources.

The use of flashbacks slows the film down, makes it less tense, but that is a minor cavil. The final scenes, with the exasperation of the beginning gone, are terribly poignant: the setting sun remark from Caroline, Daddy's comments on the management of pain as they stand in the garden, then the discussion of love in the car. Here the cinema goes as far as it can in expressing regret and acceptance.

After extensive heart surgery, a retired businessman living in the south of France returns home to convalesce. There he is visited by his daughter Caroline. As his health declines, Caroline is confronted by all the familiar behaviour patterns of her relationship with her mother and father.

This is an exquisite example of cinematic subtlety and understatement from Tavernier, Bogarde and Birkin. Tavernier enables his actors to create an intensely realistic 'family' - proud father, long-suffering mother, loving yet insecure daughter - all struggling to come to terms with the fragility of life. Bogarde and Birkin are deeply moving as father and daughter, clumsily struggling to communicate as adults after a lifetime of parent and child, and Laure provides selfless support, raging silently against the inevitable.

As a study of life's finite nature, this is faultless. As a final outing for Bogarde, it is a fitting and extraordinary tribute to a master-craftsman of the cinema.

Although gentle in presentation, this film packs a wallop. The wonderful Dirk Bogarde, in his final role, portrays a man in failing health staring mortality in the face. His wife and daughter deal with him and his impending demise as best they can, but the past weighs heavily on all of them, a source of both great pleasure and intense regret.

The beautiful setting on the coast of France is an ironic backdrop, a sun kissed panorama of holiday pleasure, against which the three protagonists struggle to accept the disappointments of the past and the daunting future that lingers ever closer.

The performances are note perfect, capturing the flashes of tenderness, regret and anxiety that play out in a never-ending merry-go-round of conflicting emotions. But it is the terrifically subtle screenplay and masterful direction of Taverner that makes the viewer feel they are witnessing a genuine experience of life rather than a filmed entertainment.

This film is not for everyone, but the audience that is receptive to its charms will feel deeply moved and enriched by the experience.