The movie, in competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival but not awarded, was well received by French critics although some find it verbose. What did American critics think about it?

The New York Post found it to be “a woeful history of romantic and sexual problems with females”. According to the article, the film falls victim to Freudian clichés. The review disregards the fact that the movie is set in post WWII America and based on “Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, realities and dream”, written in 1951 by Georges Devereux about a real patient… But we know the New York Post is better for sports results. Already in Cannes, Time Out critic pointed out that some of his colleagues misunderstood Desplechin's choice to follow the historical Freudian framework.

For The New York Times, it is a ruminative movie who refuses sensationalism or suspense. For Variety, “few films have focused so intently on the minutie of psychoanalysis as Desplechin does here — an uncompromising strategy that will undoubtedly distance some viewers while drawing others further in”.

For The Village Voice, this movie, which avoids the crutch of voiceover narration, would have been “deadly” if made by an American director : “Sometimes it takes an outsider to reflect the country we think we know in its truest light”. Amalric and Del Toro are “one of the most unexpected and inspired movie pairings in recent memory”.

What did you think of the movie?

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