bright days ahead (les beaux jours) 2013 region free dvd5 french bcbc

Bright Days Ahead (French: Les Beaux Jours) is a 2013 French romance film directed by Marion Vernoux. It was screened in the Gala Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. In January 2014, Fanny Ardant received a nomination for Best Actress at the 39th César Awards.

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Synopsis

For recent retiree Caroline (Fanny Ardant, 8 WOMEN, CONFIDENTIALLY YOURS), a new life of freedom and opportunity lies before her: time to take care of her children, her husband, and most of all, to finally take care of herself. But while her peers at the local seniors' club pass the time with ceramics and amateur theater, she finds a new hobby of her own between the sheets with the center's computer teacher Julien (Laurent Lafitte, LITTLE WHITE LIES), a carefree ladies man decades her junior. The couple set rules for their affair, but Caroline seems to like courting danger, taking her lover to places she knows they might be seen and telling lies to her husband (Patrick Chesnais, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) that could easily be discovered. As Caroline finds herself in the midst a second youth - taking a new lover, living new experiences, breaking the rules, not doing what's expected of her - will her retirement mark the beginning of the end for her marriage, or a new beginning?



Cast

Fanny Ardant as Caroline aka Caro

Laurent Lafitte as Julien (as Laurent Lafitte de la Comédie Française)

Patrick Chesnais as Philippe

Jean-François Stévenin as Roger

Fanny Cottençon as Chantal

Catherine Lachens as Sylviane

Alain Cauchi as Jacky

Marie Rivière as Jocelyne aka Jojo

Marc Chapiteau as Hugues

Féodor Atkine as Paul



Review: 'Bright Days Ahead'

There's a twinkly dual meaning to the title of the French import "Bright Days Ahead." It refers to the optimistic name of a seaside town's senior activities club as well as to the immediate future of the group's newest member, 60-year-old retired dentist Caroline (Fanny Ardant, gorgeous and self-assured). How director Marion Vernoux, who co-wrote with Fanny Chesnel (based on Chesnel's novel), melds these two halves makes for an enjoyable and unfussy portrait of growing older — and feeling younger.



When Caroline's well-meaning daughters gift their antsy mom with a trial membership to Bright Days Ahead, Caroline can't help but feel above the center's amateur acting and crafts classes, filled with eager retirees and annoying instructors. But when hot, much younger computer teacher Julien (Laurent Lafitte) casts his bedroom eyes upon the lushly beautiful Caroline, she starts seeing the club as one she might want to belong to after all.



Thus begins a May-December affair between Caroline and the irresistible, "dangerously close to 40" womanizer that makes up for in heat what their (tastefully shown) assignations lack in romantic ambition or urgency.



While Caroline soon sets rules to ensure her moments with Julien remain hidden from the Bright Days Ahead members as well as from her weary, yet devoted husband, Phillipe (Patrick Chesnais), discretion will prove easier said than done.



A behind-the-scenes look at filming around the world for television and movies as seen from the streets.

If Caroline's fling and its consequences may never turn all that earth-shattering — the movie is infused with a certain Gallic casualness — they foster a needed and credible series of subtle emotional shifts in and among the characters.



The well-observed script touches on a number of everyday issues about the aging process — whether you're pushing 40 or passing 60 — that add a tender and enlightening layer to this engaging, leisurely paced film.