À la recherche du temps perdu (2011)

À la recherche du temps perdu is a 2011 television film by Nina Companéez, based on Marcel Proust's seven-volume novel In Search of Lost Time.

The two-part film attempts to cover the entire novel with the exception of the first volume, Swann's Way—the narrator's childhood and the story of Charles Swann are only briefly mentioned, the latter having already been previously adapted as Swann in Love (1984) by Volker Schlöndorff.

Critical reception was mixed, with e.g. German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung questioning the wisdom and feasibility of filming the novel in its entirety at all. The review in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pointed out the staginess of the adaptation and found Micha Lescot's slightly tongue-in-cheek performance as the narrator somewhat lacking. Der Tagesspiegel on the other hand praised the adaptation, in particular for its visual opulence and Micha Lescot's acting. Le Figaro also lauded the telefilm both for its screenplay—which it considered accessible in style yet true to the tone of the novel—and the performances, especially by Micha Lescot, Didier Sandre, and Dominique Blanc.

Synopsis

En 1900, le narrateur a vingt ans. Fils unique, il a grandi dans une famille française de la bourgeoisie aisée, entouré par l'amour protecteur et sans limite de sa mère et de sa grand-mère. Après avoir beaucoup souffert de sa rupture d'avec Gilberte Swann, grand amour de son adolescence, il part avec sa grand-mère pour Balbec, en Normandie, afin de respirer l'air marin et se ressourcer.

Actors