"Time Regained" (the title of Marcel Proust's last volume) opens in 1922, as Proust is on his deathbed, looking through photos and remembering his life. Gradually, we watch as his own experiences give way to the characters in his novel--fiction eclipses reality. Raoul Ruiz, with incredible visual dexterity, shows how the author's creations combine with his own experiences, like slides projected on to the wall of his room. Memories of the idyllic days of the lost paradise that was Proust's childhood alternate with rich recollections of his life in fin de siecle Parisian society. The drama of the Great War, examined in the context of spectacular soirees and grand par
In 1922 France, the writer Marcel Proust is on his deathbed, scenes from the past flashing before his eyes. But what he is remembering is not his own life; he has become the narrator in a past filled with the characters and places of his fictional world. Director and cowriter Raoul Ruiz has fashioned a multilayered, complex, nonlinear examination of a writer who found more fulfillment in literature than in life. The author of the staggering landmark work REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST, Proust was not a literary success in his lifetime; thus, as he is dying, he looks back not on his own life but the marvelous, exciting life of his characters as they wander through the upper echelons of Parisian social and literary circles. This extended roman-a-clef world that Proust built, based on composites of real people, is rife with complicated family relationships, betrayals, and secret romances amid a fin de siecle aestheticism. Ruiz holds nothing back in interpreting a book that is notoriously difficult to film--as the narrator Marcel wanders through this fictional world, actions repeat, characters come to full stops or float effortlessly in the background, set designs change as the camera sweeps back and forth across rooms, and scenes come and go out of linear sequence. The acting, featuring John Malkovich, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Marcello Mazzarella, and Emmanuelle Beart, is as complex and fascinating as the rest of this stunning adaptation.
Raoul Ruiz directs this stunning, complex adaptation of the final volume of IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, Marcel Proust's brilliant, epic masterwork. On his deathbed in 1922, Proust begins reflecting upon his past experiences, but the line between his actual life and the characters in his novels begins to blur together, until the two merges into one magical whole. The film features a seemingly endless barrage of extraordinary performances, as well as gorgeous photography by Ricardo Aronovich.
Theatrical release: June 16, 2000 (NY)
TIME REGAINED was an official selection of the Cannes, New York, and Telluride Film Festivals.
The French title of the film is Le Temps retrouve. (note--acute accent on the final e.)
During the shooting of the film, each day's call sheet included a quote from Proust's writings.
Only one scene in the film was not taken from Proust--the scene in which the cup is broken.
Director Raoul Ruiz sees all of his previous films as having led up to this one; he considers it "an opera, a choral symphony."
Gene Seymour of Newsday, Philip French of The Guardian (U.K.), Armond White of the New York Press, and The Second Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll all named TIME REGAINED one of the top ten films of 2000.
Time Regained Reviews:
"...Ruiz has approached that literarary Godzilla, Marcel Proust's REMEMBERANCE OF THINGS PAST, from the most challenging vantage point possible..."-- Janet Maslin, New York Times
"...Visually spectacular....Ravishing....TIME REGAINED is a tour de force, gorgeous yet stark..."
-- Keith Reader, Sight and Sound
"...A poignant and fascinating meditation on the changes brought about by the passage of time. The film ends with scenes of haunting beauty..."
-- Ed Scheid, Box Office
"...Anchored by a faultless, award-winning portrayal by Ahangarani in a most demanding role....[The] film is yet another reason why Iranian cinema is among the most vital and challenging in the world today..."
-- Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"...Impeccably filmed....The eternally glowing Beart and Catherine Deneuve make for lovely pieces de resistance..."
-- Daneet Steffens, Entertainment Weekly
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