Amélie Bonnin’s musical film, starring Juliette Armanet and Bastien Bouillon, kicks off the 78th Cannes Film Festival and is being released in theaters.
Screened Tuesday evening as the opening of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, at the same time as in theaters across France, Amélie Bonnin’s musical film has everything it takes to get audiences singing along.
On Wednesday, « Partir un jour » faced audiences and critics with several challenges: it was an adaptation of a short film, extended for the occasion, and sprinkled its story with songs, an extremely difficult exercise (« Don Juan, » by Serge Bozon, had suffered this at Cannes in 2022).
Nevertheless, this musical film (out of competition), which opens the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 13th and is released in theaters the same day, exudes a touch of local flavor without being outdated, just like some of the debut films presented in the official selection in 2024. One might think of Louise Courvoisier’s Twenty Gods, unveiled in 2023 at Un Certain Regard, and one suspects that the general delegate, Thierry Frémaux, wants to repeat, with Partir un jour, a romance with feminist overtones, the unexpected success of the comedy set in the Jura region.
It is therefore a question of family, emancipation, and choice in this film, which tells the story of a relationship between a daughter and her father, tinged with guilt; between this father and the mother, an old couple who have, over time, found their way of functioning despite the ups and downs; but also the relationship between Cécile and her partner, in which an unwanted pregnancy crystallizes.
« What moves me are human relationships, » says the director. « What is a parent-child relationship like when you’re over 12 and a half? What do we inherit? What do we pass on? How do we move forward in life with our past? How do we deal with it to move forward in life? » the director asks.
« And then there’s also the question of choice. At what point do we choose? Do we give up? Do we choose? How do we assert our choices even when it’s not necessarily easy? » asks Amélie Bonnin.
To say that director Amélie Bonnin has overcome all the pitfalls would be a gross exaggeration. Her first feature film is certainly a pleasant romantic comedy, in which the duo Juliette Armanet and Bastien Bouillon work marvelously.
Juliette Armanet gives the impression of having done this all her life: cooking and acting. Bastien Bouillon is unrecognizable as a peroxide blond, sunny, funny, and charming. He has the hint of melancholy of someone who could have lived another life. The songs were recorded live on set, with new arrangements and orchestrations, varying the styles. Chilly Gonzales revisits « Partir un jour, » the 2Be3 song that gives the film its title, and transforms the boy band’s mellow into an intoxicating ballad. We talk about the texture of the voice as well as the texture of the image. « Partir un jour » has no shortage of both. Juliette Armanet and François Rollin don’t have the same technique but convey the same emotion, the kind that only an actor who slips into the skin of a character can convey. A father singing « Mourir » on stage while peeling potatoes in his kitchen could be ridiculous. It’s heartbreaking.
As for the musical aspect, it raises the question of its relevance. What’s the point of having people sing—or even massacre—hits like « Paroles » (Dalida), « Donne-moi ton corps baby » (K. Maro), « Le Loir-et-Cher » (Delpech), or « Pour que tu m’aimes encore » (Céline Dion), if not to serve as emotional crutches or even filler.
In a highly masterful production, with remarkable attention to detail and small directorial inventions, this polymorphous artist, who handles drawing as well as the camera, leaves plenty of space for those she films, their stories, and the lives that unfold before her camera’s eye. A life she stages through an alternation of choreographic camera movements and particularly well-composed static shots.
France is the country of gastronomy, song, and cinema. And of love, of course. It’s never too late to do a wheelie to seduce a girl. We can’t wait to discover what this unique perspective has in store for us.
©2025 – IMPACT EUROPEAN
TAPIS ROUGE
PHOTOCALL
About The Author
More Stories
The first « Caribbean Days » in Paris by the CCCE
« In the Open Air » by Laurent Balay
Lula is in Paris for a bilateral meeting on the Mercosur free trade agreement