La Vie des morts (1991)
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin

Film Review

This dark study in living with death and its consequences marked the directorial debut of Arnaud Desplechin, who would go on to win critical acclaim with his subsequent full length films, La Sentinelle (1992) and Comment je me suis disputé (ma vie sexuelle) (1996).  Although lacking in content and occasionally marred by pretentious dialogue, La Vie des morts is stylistically brilliant.  The sombre cinematography conveys an intense mood of existentialist angst, which the repressed acting performances can only amplify.  It is a thoughtful meditation on how human beings face up to their own mortality, not overly profound, but strangely compelling and hauntingly poetic.

Film Synopsis

Deciding that life is not worth living, Patrick, a depressed 20-year-old man, attempts suicide by putting a bullet in his head.  The attempt fails but he is left in a deep coma, hovering between life and death.  As he lies in hospital, his condition closely monitored, his relatives congregate at a house in the north of France.  Cousins, aunts and nephews who have not seen each other in ages come together at this time of distress and take comfort in each other's company.  In this atmosphere of forced solidarity, they all grimly reflecting on their own mortality and the emptiness of their lives as they cling to the ever-diminishing hope that Patrick might pull through...