Updated yesterday at 11:30am.
There are films that we admire because they ingeniously renew the film language. And there are others who, without revolutionizing the 7th art, find a place in our hearts. The Wunderkammer falls into the latter category. Lisa Azuelos has created a deeply humane feature film. A modern fable about a heroine with a “checkered life full of failures and scars.”
Thelma (the great Alexandra Lamy) is a single mother who raises Louis alone and works in a warehouse. The day her son falls into a coma after a skateboarding accident, Thelma will lose her reason for living. In her son’s room she discovers his diary illustrated with manga. She also finds her list of “10 things to do before the end of the world…which may happen sooner than expected.” From then on, she sets off on an adventure around the world to gradually make her son’s dreams come true. And maybe wake his son from his coma by making his wishes come true. These are varied: having his skateboard signed by a manga illustrator who lives in seclusion in Tokyo, meeting the father he never knew, swimming with whales in the sea.
Director Lisa Azuelos creates an ode to kindness, a modern story of resilience. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Julien Sandrel and is quite classic, even a little conventional, but shot with great sensitivity. Alexandra Lamy is perfect for the role of this courageous, stubborn and loving mother! The actress from Un Guy, Une Fille en France shines in comedy, drama and fantasy.
Of course we are far from a masterpiece, but sometimes cinema also does useful work by offering stories that make us believe in the goodness and solidarity of humanity. With the help of her mother (Muriel Robin) and a young neighbor (Xavier Lacaille), Thelma will stay afloat out of motherly love. And conquer your fears by discovering that “no adult ambition can make you happier than a youthful carpe diem.”
theatre
The room of wonders
Lisa Azuelos
With Alexandra Lamy, Muriel Robin, Xavier Lacaille
1:37am
Inside