Cédric Klapisch’s “Colors of Time” slips and slides beautifully in and out of two eras like a fine handwoven tapestry. The French film, screening at the M.V. Film Center the weekend of Oct. 23, is lush with color and ideas that entrance our eyes and minds from the first moment to the last.
Two interwoven narratives relate intimately to each other. In contemporary Paris, Seb, a young digital content creator, attends a meeting with about 30 other people. To everyone’s surprise, a developer tells them they are all cousins, direct descendants of Adèle Vermillard, who lived at the end of the 19th century. The presenters explain they want to buy Adèle’s estate to build a mega supermarket and garage.
Seb becomes one of four representatives designated to inspect Adèle’s abandoned house, where they discover mysterious treasures — family photographs, possible Impressionist art, and other items — all buried under dust.
A corresponding story unfolds as Adèle arrives in 1890s Paris to find her mother, who abandoned her at birth. When Adèle finds her, their relationship proves complicated. Adèle’s mother works in a brothel, which initially shocks her naive daughter. However, their connection improves as Adèle becomes more worldly through her friendships with two young men, which draws her into the birth of early photography and the explosive rise of the Impressionist movement.
The dual narratives move forward as the four contemporary cousins uncover information about Adèle’s past. The parallel connections between periods, relating to art, photography, personal letters, and relationships, eventually fall seamlessly into place.
Throughout both stories, though, the main characters’ growing friendships carry the heart of the tales. As one of the cousins says, researching Adèle and her circle is like a police investigation: “But these people are our family. I feel like in discovering things about them, we’re discovering ourselves.”
“Colours of Time” screens at the M.V. Film Center the weekend of Oct. 23. For tickets and more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.
