''All Together'' (french: Et si on vivait tous ensemble?, literally "And If We All Lived Together?") is a 2011 French-German

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by

Stéphane Robelin Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: * Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer *Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé football player *Stéphane Allagnon ...

, and starring

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Jane Fonda, various accolades including two ...

and

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...

as participants of an alternate living experiment, that is observed by a graduate student played by

Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts B ...

. The film marks Fonda's first French-speaking role since starring in

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

's film '' Tout Va Bien'' (1972). Filming took place over two months in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in the summer of 2010. The film premiered on the closing night of the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

on 13 August 2011. It was released on DVD on 19 March 2013.

Plot

Jean (Bedos) is a romantic revolutionary, yet enjoys the spoils of a bourgeois lifestyle with his wife, Annie (Chaplin). Annie is a retired psychologist, who complains about not being able to see enough of her children and assorted grandchildren. Albert (Richard) is showing increasing signs of dementia; his energetic American wife Jeanne (Fonda) is a former university lecturer who is suffering from cancer but who assures her husband that she is cured, yet shops for a brightly-colored coffin. Widower Claude (Rich) is an aging womanizer with an appetite for pursuits with prostitutes. Knowing how lonely he is at home alone after a previous heart attack, Jean suggests that the five friends should live together in their house, an idea that appalls Annie. Claude suffers another heart attack from walking up too many flights of stairs, on the way to visiting one of his lady friends. Albert is also hospitalized after his beloved dog knocks him down during a walk, though he claims he slipped on the sidewalk. Unable to see his dog be given away, Jeanne and Albert hire Dirk (Brühl), a German ethnology student, to walk him instead. After seeing the sad conditions of Claude's retirement home, the friends decide to move in together on Jean's suggestion. Dirk, who has changed his thesis to reflect the condition of France's aging population, moves in with them as a caregiver. Meanwhile, Annie prepares to build a pool on her property in the hopes that it will attract her grandchildren. Jeanne becomes frustrated at Albert's worsening condition as he begins to forget that he is living with his friends instead of at his own home. Albert also speaks with Jeanne's doctor, who informs him that Jeanne's latest tests indicate that her cancer is not cured, but is worsening. Jeanne strikes up a friendship with Dirk, giving him advice on troubles with his girlfriend and telling him that life is short and that he should be with someone who is more his type. She also reveals that she had a lover in the past, but is still good friends with him. One day she tells Albert that she is going out to walk the dog with him. Albert acknowledges this, yet forgets and goes off to find her, leaving the bath running. He finds them in a park together and accuses her of starting a relationship with him, angering her; he also forgets who Dirk is and why he hired him. The water overflows from the tub, ruining Annie's precious furniture, yet Albert does not know why she's upset. Later, Albert brings Dirk along to help him with opening some old trunks. Accidentally finding Claude's things instead, Albert discovers that Claude had been having an affair with both Annie and Jeanne forty years earlier. He reveals this to Jean, who doesn't believe him until he accuses Annie and she confesses. Jean confronts Claude in the unfinished pool during dinner and threatens him with a knife, and Jeanne faints when she hears that Claude had also been having an affair with Annie. The friends make up that night while Jeanne is bedridden. The next morning, the friends drink champagne and Jeanne succumbs to her illness shortly after. She is buried in a bright pink coffin, and, as per her requests, the surviving friends leave their champagne glasses on it. The pool is filled shortly after and Annie's grandchildren are finally spending time with her and Jean. Claude finds Dirk having sex with a new part-time caregiver, a girl Jeanne hired who is more of Dirk's type. Before they can toast to the new assistant, a confused Albert wanders in, asking after Jeanne; he still believes her to be alive. The film ends on a melancholy note as the friends and Dirk wander through the streets with Albert, calling Jeanne's name. And If We All Lived Together
Screen Daily. 14 August 2011

Cast

as Jeanne *

as Dirk *

as Annie *

Pierre Richard Pierre Richard (born Pierre-Richard Maurice Charles Léopold Defays; 16 August 1934) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Pierre Richard is considered by many, such as ...

as Albert *

Claude Rich Claude Rich (8 February 1929 – 20 July 2017) was a French stage and screen actor. He began his career in the theater before his film debut in 1955. Personal life He married actress Catherine Renaudin on 26 June 1959. They had two daughters, ...

as Claude * Guy Bedos as Jean *Camino Texeira as Maria *

Gustave Kervern Gustave Kervern (born 27 August 1962), also known as Gustave de Kervern and Gustave K/Vern, is a French actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaboration with Benoît Delépine. Life and career In 2004 he wrote, directed, ...

as The seller of funeral pumps

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1674057, Et si on vivait tous ensemble? 2011 films 2011 comedy films French comedy films German comedy films Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Films about old age 2010s French films 2010s German films