A man doesn't attend his son's funeral; his younger, alcoholic son has a few unsavoury opinions about that and about the rest of the family; the women of the family--his wife, his granddaughter, his son's wife, his dead son's ex-wife--defend his absence, with differing variations of "people will grieve in their own way: don't judge"; the granddaughter's new boyfriend sits amidst the family strife, baffled and silent. And this is just the beginning. The family dynamics then unfold slowly to the rhythm of the rustling trees and loudly to Wagner's Ring Cycle, and though the entire cast is strong, without the performances of Guy Marchand and Francoise Fabian--who, as Marianne, is merveilleux--would hardly be watchable.

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