Maman Maman Maman

At the start, this merry family album – built upon an astonishing array of archival materials, from old photos and book covers to Super-8 and digital video footage – looks like a homemade version of a Wes Anderson chronicle of old aristocracy. Gradually, deeper tones of warmth and melancholia emerge, particularly when the death of a beloved grandmother looms. Something else also enters the picture – an increasing rate of fiction and fabulation. At once expansive and cryptic, generous and private, Bauer’s finely wrought film shows us that “family is work” – the most profound and consuming work. (Adrian Martin)