Changing Times

Changing Times (Les Temps qui changent)

Movie · 2004 · 6 people

André Téchiné directed the 2004 French film Changing Times (original title Les Temps qui changent), which was released in Turkey as Geçmişte Kalan Aşk on 24 February 2006. It follows a man who travels to Morocco to find a love he left behind thirty years earlier. Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu share the leading roles, and the film runs about 95 minutes.

The story is set in the Moroccan city of Tangier. Antoine, a construction engineer, goes there to oversee a large project, hiding his real aim: to find Cécile, the woman he loved thirty years ago, and rekindle it. But Cécile (Deneuve) settled in Morocco long ago and built a home with a Jewish doctor, Nathan. Cécile's son Sami arrives from Paris with his girlfriend Nadia. The summer turns out very differently from what Cécile expected; whether she will accept that Antoine, whom she calls a dream, is real is the central question. Gilbert Melki, Malik Zidi and Lubna Azabal also appear.

The screenplay is credited to Téchiné, Pascal Bonitzer and Laurent Guyot. One critic places the film within Téchiné's line of stories where inner and outer journeys cross, noting shared traits with his earlier Rendez-vous and My Favourite Season, and rates it 2.5.

DirectorAndré Téchiné

Reactions

You can pick up to 3 reactions.

Cast

Only cast members with a profile on this site are listed.

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Deneuve Film actor · 83 years old Lubna Azabal Lubna Azabal Actor · 53 years old Gérard Depardieu Malik Zidi Gilbert Melki Tanya Lopert

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

As one critic has noted, the film sits comfortably within Téchiné's line of stories where inner and outer journeys cross. The script's most interesting idea is Cécile calling Antoine a dream: a love from thirty years ago becomes something suspended between reality and imagination. The problem is the risk of the focus scattering as Sami and Nadia's story, Nathan and the other characters gather around that central line. Deepening so many layers within a compact story is not easy, and the same critic's middling verdict may point to that diffuseness. Still, the way it takes seriously the effect of age and passing time on love keeps it among the director's notable works.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

What is most interesting about the film is the mixed world its characters assemble. Cécile, who settled in Morocco long ago and made a home with a Jewish doctor, her son Sami arriving from Paris with his girlfriend, and Antoine travelling to Tangier in pursuit of the past bring together the faces of migration and belonging across generations in one story. Antoine using a large construction project as his pretext can also be read as an oblique nod to the relationship between outside business and local life. Yet the film leaves these themes in the background of a love story rather than exploring them openly; a viewer curious about identity and migration may want more.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

This is a love story for mature adults, with nothing aimed at children. A man chasing a former love thirty years on, a woman who has built a home with someone else, tangled family ties... The subject speaks more to middle-aged and older viewers than to the young. It is not one to sit down with the kids for; it fits a quiet evening for two much better.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

Reviews (0)

Log in Log in to write a review.

Comments