Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

Rémy, self-styled hedonist and "sensual socialist" is dying. Alienated son Sébastian, international banker and "arch-capitalist," reluctantly visits. Moved by his father's situation, Sébastian ruthlessly strives to achieve the impossible - to make his father's death a happy one.

Told with such delicate wit and delight, this film is a treasure. The film's targets are numerous - hospital bureaucracy, the crumbling Welfare State, union corruption, the Roman Catholic Church and the dumbing-down of Western society.

Yes, there is sadness, addiction and death, but mainly this is a film about warmth and laughter and the sheer perversity of humanity.

Best Foreign Language Film, 2004 Oscars