Superficially, French series All Those Things We Never Said could be labelled a romantic comedy. It is this and so much more, combining elements of magic realism, relatable family-daughter complexities, fate, the travails of ageing and the beauty of a European road trip.
Based on bestselling author Marc Levy’s 2008 book (Toutes ces choses qu’on ne s’est pas dites), this screen adaptation benefits from Levy’s role as both screenwriter and showrunner.
The film rights to Levy’s first novel If Only It Were True were acquired by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks before it had even been published, resulting in the 2005 box office smash Just Like Heaven starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. One of France’s most popular novelists, his work has been translated into 49 languages and has sold over 40 million copies worldwide.
Novelist and screenwriter Marc Levy (left) with director Miguel Courtois on the set of ‘All Those Things We Never Said’. Source: SBS
Though book adaptations don’t always demand the author’s involvement to work beautifully, it is the ultimate stamp of approval when the original storyteller wants to be part of the screen realisation. Levy’s unusual story is so colourful and juicy, studded with eccentric characters in dreamy French landscapes, that it was almost written for a cast of French film and TV stars. Et voila, it delivers in spades.
When Julia Saurel’s father dies, she is torn between grief and frustration. She is days away from her wedding and she must contend with the father-daughter conversations that weren’t started nor finished, and the injustice of not receiving the praise and fatherly pride she’d longed for. Her experience is common to many daughters, except for one, significant twist.
Adam (Cédric Ben Abdallah) comforts Julia (Alexandra Maria Lara) at her father’s funeral. Source: SBS
Less than a week after his funeral, Michel Saurel returns.
Not as a zombie or a ghost, but as an android. Before his death, Michel had invested in a technology company that developed androids. When an enormous wooden crate arrives on her doorstep, Julia cracks it open to reveal her Dad 2.0. As he explains to his puzzled and justifiably awed daughter, he is a carbon copy of her father that contains his memory and he has a battery life of six days, after which he automatically switches off.
Michel (Jean Reno) returns. Source: SBS
This paternal android offers Julia an opportunity and an ultimatum: one final road trip to have all the conversations and experiences with her beloved, if befuddling, father or take her honeymoon.
“You’ve always wanted to control everything,” she accuses Michel. Regardless, she acquiesces to this final familial adventure and as viewers, we are the fortunate passengers who are able to witness all the dualling psychological dramas that have shaped Julia and Michel’s relationship as adults, and the devastatingly lovely rural landscapes of southern France.
Michel and Julia, father and daughter, saying all those things they never said. Source: SBS
But, hold on, what about the romance? What about the wedding?
Ah, bien sur! But of course! This is one of the primary reasons Michel has returned – he does not approve of his daughter’s fiancé and he is determined to see her reunited with her soulmate. Michel admits to his regret over breaking up Julia’s teenage love affair with Tomas 20 years earlier. He had convinced his daughter that she must move on, and that Tomas had died soon after in a warzone. In fact, he reveals, Tomas is alive, and their last road trip is not purely a farewell for the Saurels, but to seek the man who Julia is fated to be with.
It sounds a little schmaltzy, and if it had been transformed into a US blockbuster, it could have suffered the fate of becoming romantic comedy fodder. Fortunately, the quirky, sentimental-with-a-tart-twist nature of Levy’s book has been artfully played out by a starry cast of well-known actors.
Tomas (Alex Brendemühl). Source: SBS
Jean Reno, now 74, is a star of major French, Italian, Spanish and US films including Leon, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible (see him in French films and along with Italian thriller , all streaming at SBS On Demand). He is – as usual – brilliant: funny, sentimental, clever and quick.
The heart of this story is Julia, as played by the wonderful Alexandra Maria Lara, a Romanian-born German actress who made her name in major dramas, including Downfall, Youth Without Youth and Control, and plays the key role in German crime series . Here, she proves her knack for comedy alongside Reno. Their central act is well supported by French actor Cédric Ben Abdallah as slighted fiancé Adam, and Spanish-German actor Alex Brendemühl as Tomas. Levy, too, has an on-screen role.
As Julia and Michel traverse Montreal, Paris, Berlin and all the wonderful, scenic countryside in between, they invite us to drop our impatience, scepticism and the patina of cynicism brought on by modern convenience and media fatigue. There is an uncomplicated charm to Levy’s story, evidenced in both the book and this series, that reminds us of what matters: the people we love, and how we convey their importance to us while we still can.
All Those Things We Never Said premieres exclusively in Australia . All episodes are now streaming.
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