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Time Regained

Time Regained (Le Temps retrouvé)

Movie · 1999 · 3 people

Raúl Ruiz directed Time Regained (Le Temps retrouvé), a large-scale period drama of the mind made jointly by France, Italy and Portugal. Its source is the last of the seven volumes of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, which appeared in 1927. Ruiz wrote the screenplay with Gilles Taurand. Dated 1999 by most sources, the film was entered into that year's Cannes Film Festival, and it appears on the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" list.

The story opens in Paris in 1922, with Proust close to the end of his life, looking through photographs with his assistant Céleste on his deathbed. As he reflects, he recalls episodes of his life and realises again how much the people around him, friends and lovers alike, shaped his work. Marcello Mazzarella plays Proust. Catherine Deneuve is Odette de Crécy, Emmanuelle Béart is Gilberte and Vincent Perez is Morel; John Malkovich, Pascal Greggory, Marie-France Pisier, Chiara Mastroianni and Elsa Zylberstein also appear.

Choosing the last volume lets the film refer to the whole novel: the "lady in pink" episode from the first volume, Swann's Way, is shown as a flashback. Gémini Films and Blu Cinematografica are named among the production companies. The film sets a writer's memories against the spirit of his time.

DirectorRaoul Ruiz
Production companyGémini Films

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Catherine Deneuve Catherine Deneuve Film actor · 83 years old Vincent Perez Vincent Perez Film actor · 62 years old Philippe Morier-Genoud Philippe Morier-Genoud Actor · 82 years old

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Through different eyes

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

Rather than turning Proust's final volume into a straight narrative, Raúl Ruiz chose to build a film on the logic of memory itself. The dying writer drifting into the past as he looks at photographs frees the editing from a linear line, and the time frames bleed into each other. Choosing the last volume is a smart screenwriting decision that opens the whole novel to reference, and the "lady in pink" episode from Swann's Way returning as a flashback is a fine example. The large cast, with Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart and John Malkovich, turns the people around the writer into a vivid gallery. But over 162 minutes this associative structure can easily shut out viewers who have not read the novel. An ambitious, elegant and at times exhausting adaptation.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

For a reader who loves In Search of Lost Time, this film is like turning the pages of a cherished book once more. Proust on his deathbed, looking through old photographs with his assistant Céleste, quietly says how deeply human remembering is. Marcello Mazzarella's Proust is restrained, Catherine Deneuve's Odette graceful. To an eye used to the warm, direct feeling of Yeşilçam the film may seem cold and scattered; yet to the patient viewer it says something profound about facing one's own past and the people who shaped it.

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

This is not a film to watch with children. It is a slow period drama running 162 minutes, built around the memories of a dying writer. It has emotional and intellectual depth, but younger kids and even many teenagers will probably get bored. Adults who love literature, especially those who have read Proust, will enjoy it more on their own.

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

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