''Making Plans for Lena'' () is a 2009 French drama film directed by

Christophe Honoré Christophe Honoré (; born 10 April 1970) is a French writer and film and theatre director. Career Honoré was born in Carhaix, Finistère. After moving to Paris in 1995, he wrote articles in . He started writing soon after. His 1996 book ''Tout ...

, who co-wrote the screenplay with

Geneviève Brisac Geneviève Brisac (; born 18 October 1951, in Paris) is a French writer. She is the winner of the Prix Femina in 1996 for ''Week-end de chasse à la mère'', a novel translated in English as ''Losing Eugenio'' (2000) and referred to in ''The Ne ...

. It stars Chiara Mastroianni,

Marina Foïs Marina Sylvie Foïs (born 21 January 1970) is a French actress. Life and career Born in Boulogne-Billancourt in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in a family from Russian people, Russian, Egyptian Jews, Jewish Egyptian, German people, German a ...

Marie-Christine Barrault Marie-Christine Barrault (born 21 March 1944) is a French actress. She is best known for her performance in ''Cousin Cousine'' (1975) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2010, she released her autobiography, tit ...

, and

Jean-Marc Barr Jean-Marc Barr (born September 27, 1960) is a French-American film actor and director. He is best known for working on several films from Danish film director and frequent collaborator Lars von Trier since '' Europa'' (1991). Early life and ed ...

. It was released on 2 September 2009 in France.

Plot

Lena, a single mother of two young children, takes a trip from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

to spend a holiday with her family at the country house. Lena's ex-husband Nigel and her love interest Simon visits them.

Cast

* Chiara Mastroianni as Léna *

as Frédérique *

as Annie *

as Nigel *

Louis Garrel Louis Garrel (born 14 June 1983) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his starring role in ''The Dreamers (2003 film), The Dreamers'', directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

as Simon * Fred Ulysse as Michel * Marcial Di Fonzo Bo as Thibault * Alice Butaud as Elise * Julien Honoré as Gulven * Donatien Suner as Anton * Lou Pasquerault as Augustine * Jean-Baptiste Fonck as José

Release

The film was released on 2 September 2009 in France. It was also screened at the 2009

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

, the 2009

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival (), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South Ame ...

, the 2010

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

, and the 2010

Transilvania International Film Festival The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF; ) is the first international feature film festival in Romania, which is held annually in the historic capital of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca. Founded in 2002 by the Romanian Film Promotion (), TIFF ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 50% based on 8 reviews, and an average rating of 5.19/10. Ed Gonzalez of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, writing: "With ndréTéchiné-like expertise, Honoré delicately weaves together the dramas of his characters' lives." He added: "Though those dramas aren't always interesting (one could even say the character of Frédérique is completely beside the point), ''Making Plans for Lena'' is a gorgeous tapestry nonetheless." Jordan Mintzer of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "While ''Love Songs'' and ''Dans Paris'' revealed prolific filmmaker Christophe Honore to be a direct descendant of the French New Wave, he heads straight into Arnaud Desplechin territory with the turbulent family drama ''Making Plans for Lena''." Meanwhile, Frank Scheck of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' commented that "Mastroianni provides a vividly intense turn in the title role, but the film's narrative diffuseness and excessive stylization defeats her best efforts." He called it "a misstep from one of that country's most acclaimed filmmakers." At the

35th César Awards The 35th César Awards ceremony was presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma in Paris to honour its selection of the best films of 2009 in film, 2009 on 27 February 2010. The ceremony was chaired by Marion Cotillard, with Valér ...

, Alex Beaupain was nominated for the Best Original Music award.

References

External links

* {{Christophe Honoré 2009 films French drama films 2000s French-language films Films directed by Christophe Honoré Le Pacte films Films scored by Alex Beaupain 2009 drama films French-language drama films