Interesting but somewhat cryptic family-dynamics saga presented with characteristic French warmth and some charm. Daniel Auteuil plays a brain surgeon in love with his big sister (Catherine Deneuve). Apparently he has been pining away for her for decades since they are now middle-aged. She's no longer interested in sex, and he apparently never was, since he never married and lived alone. Meanwhile mom, who loved him best, can't live alone anymore because of fainting spells, and so goes to live with Deneuve and her family. But that doesn't work out and Auteuil won't or can't take her in, and so they send her to a nursing home, which she hates. All this occasions brother and sister to spend some time together. They recall with fondness their childhood; and when she breaks up with her husband, little brother rents a nice apartment for himself and her, all the better to live happily ever after.

Well, what a tease. That really doesn't happen. After a bit Deneuve gets seduced by a very aggressive and anonymous intern which reawakens her sexuality and makes her realize she can't live with her brother. And so she leaves him. He breaks into her house in an attempt to get her back....

I think Director André Téchiné did a good job with what he attempted, but could have attempted more. The cast is good, especially Marthe Villalonga as the mother and Deneuve, who has aged well. It's amusing to see that the cool and stately actress is still being sexually abused by the French directors for the audience. I wonder what they would have done if, instead of Hitchcock, et. al., THEY could have gotten their hands on Deneuve's cinematic American soul sister, Grace Kelly. It would have been interesting to see Grace Kelly in, say, Truffaut's Mississippi Mermaid (1969) with Jean-Paul Belmondo instead of Deneuve. Or, how about Grace Kelly as "Belle de Jour"?

But I digress.

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This film came just before one of his masterpieces, ' Wild Reeds ' and it was no doubt more appealing to audiences at the time of its appearance than some of his previous films. It deals with the ' family ' which is sacrosanct to the French, as it is not transgressive in itself and is endorsed by church and state. This of course applies to many other countries, but the French have arguably made more films about family structures than elsewhere. However Techine does effectively show the indifference of younger members towards their family elders, and how even among the younger ones there are hostilities and many bitter resentments. Ultimately we are all alone, and Techine knows this fully well and in this film shows it painfully and often cruelly. Basically it is about a woman and her husband, her relationship with her children ( one adopted ) and with her brother with whom she has a closer relationship. A large part of the film shows how this relationship is based on fantasies created in childhood, and maybe as some have observed there are hints of incest especially on the brother's side. The other large part is the relationship with the brother and sister's mother, played toughly and painfully by Marthe Villalonga. She is old and she needs care, but like a parcel she is placed in one home after another, including a care home out of hell. Without spoiling more this is all plainly filmed. It is realistic and has very little of those startling moments which I like Techine for, and at its long length of 2 hours plus it became for me tedious. Catherine Deneuve gives a good performance as the mother/sister and Daniel Auteuil equals her, but somewhere I feel the range of their usually superb acting is not stretched enough. The other actors, including Marthe Villalonga also acted well, but as the whole family was annoying and somewhat painfully observed I more or less switched off. I felt the film lacked the unbearable power of such films as ' Les Innocents ' and ' J'embrasse Pas ' but that is my opinion, which I doubt will be shared. I give it an 8 because it is indisputably well made and in its subtly cruel way a good example of how ' families ' can be nests of unspoken dislike and often outright war.

Techine has made a beautiful film about lost childhood,the passing time and old age.Ma Saison preferee succeeds as it evokes situations which each one of us have experienced in our lives.It is primarily a film about the complex relationship a mother has with her children. Berthe does not want her children to worry about her as she is aware of the fact that no one cares about her.Her illness facilitates a true meeting between all family members.Berthe is resolute enough to realize that she has to get ahead in life on her own terms as no one is bothered about her welfare.Ma Saison preferee is a slice of life as witnessed in present day France.The film is divided into episodes each dealing with events related to the family.The film is about difficult life old people are forced to lead when their children start ignoring them.Ma Saison preferee is as simple and straightforward as flowing water.This has been Techine's most remarkable film about family life after Souvenirs d'en France.