Café de Flore

Powerful, propulsive, music-filled, and not a little mystical, Café de Flore is the latest from Quebec wunderkind Jean-Marc Vallée, director of the 2005 coming-of-age hit (and Canada’s Top Ten selection) C.R.A.Z.Y. “Café de Flore tells a complex, time-jumping narrative involving a present-day Montreal father (Parent) in the throes of a mid-life crisis and the mother (Paradis) of a Down syndrome child in 1969 Paris. Parent’s character is a D.J., and that’s the role Vallée assumes as a filmmaker, tracking powerful emotional beats against themes sampled from Krzysztof Kieslowski, Nicolas Roeg, and early Denis Villeneuve. Some people are going to hate it. I found it bracing, daring, and entirely invigorating. A word of advice, though: when the credits start rolling, remain seated” (Norman Wilner, Now). “Masterful ... Simply a beautiful, intricate film” (Guy Dixon, Globe and Mail). Colour, DVD, in French with English subtitles. 120 mins.