A Sunday in the Country

"Bertrand Tavernier's magnificent portrait of French family life on the brink of World War I"

1984 1h 34m FR

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 106

DramaFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In France, before WWI. As every Sunday, an old painter living in the country is visited by his son Gonzague, coming with his wife and his three children. Then his daugther Irene arrives. She is always in a hurry, she lives alone and does not come so often... An intimist chronicle in which what is not shown, what is guessed, is more important than how it looks, dealing with what each character expects of life.

“Bertrand Tavernier's magnificent portrait of French family life on the brink of World War I”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Sabine Azéma
Iréne
Louis Ducreux
Monsieur Ladmiral
Michel Aumont
Gonzague
Monique Chaumette
Mercedes
Geneviève Mnich
Marie-Thérèse
Thomas Duval
Emile
Quentin Ogier
Lucien
Katia Wostrikoff
Mireille

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Writers: Bertrand Tavernier, Colo Tavernier O'Hagan
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bertrand Tavernier, shot by Bruno de Keyzer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marc Perrone. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Armand Psenny shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sabine Azéma and Louis Ducreux and Michel Aumont carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Bertrand Tavernier's magnificent portrait of French family life on the brink of World War I".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0088318 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bertrand Tavernier directs. Bruno de Keyzer behind the camera. Marc Perrone scores. Armand Psenny cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

142 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Bertrand Tavernier, shot by Bruno de Keyzer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Marc Perrone. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Armand Psenny shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sabine Azéma and Louis Ducreux and Michel Aumont carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Bertrand Tavernier's magnificent portrait of French family life on the brink of World War I".
8IMDB entry: tt0088318 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "countryside", "insect", "sunday", "painter".

The technical file

Cinematography: Bruno de Keyzer
Original score: Marc Perrone
Editing: Armand Psenny
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Status: Released
Box office: $8,200,000
Original language: FR
IMDB: A Sunday in the Country (1984)

Also by

Bertrand Tavernier

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-10-19
★ 7/10
Did you know that is was Canius Fanius who forbade the rearing of chickens on the streets of ancient Rome? That’s what you learn from a weekly lunch with your ageing father/grandfather and what “Msr. Ladmiral” (Louis Decreux) imparts to his visiting son “Gonzague” (Michel Aumont) who is visiting for Sunday lunch with his wife “Mercédès” (Monique Chaumette) and three children. Although they all get on fine, I think for the family travelling from Paris this has become a bit of a chore - but he is a jolly old painter who adores his three grandchildren. On this particular weekend, an unexpected whirlwind arrives in the form of daughter “Irène” (Sabine Azéma) - complete with her motor car. Unlike her sibling, she is unmarried and visits far less often but it’s quite clear that she is the apple of the old man’s eye and he is delighted to have them all around him for a day. As that day pans out we begin to learn a little of their family dynamic and, through a few almost sepia-style recollections, we look back upon his own childhood at their idyllic rural mansion. There is something bucolically eccentric about the style of this film, indeed I kept seeing William Hartnell in Decreux’s shoes as the cane-wielding, dapperly attired old gent. Thereafter, we enjoy a characterful critique of how different his two children have turned out to be; how their priorities are pretty much polar opposites with one choosing a stable and responsible lifestyle and the other a much more relaxed, perhaps even Bohemian one. What is writ large is that despite these differences, their father accommodates them in a tolerant and loving manner. Perhaps that is because his love for them is all that is left of his love for their mother, and that perhaps his own mortality is beginning to make it’s presence felt? Unlike one of Ingmar Bergman’s torrid family dramas, this one has much more joy to it; shades of mischief and there’s even a slight degree of romance from an “Irène” that she declines to explain! It looks great, the production design and the brilliance of the outdoor light all bring a classic stylishness to this drama about an old man and his life, his family and even a little of his stoic loneliness.

Production companies