Will It Snow For Christmas? (1997)

While most Gallic features are about chic Parisians who cavort around in trendy flats, Will It Snow For Christmas? is a breath of fresh country air. Sandrine Veysset directs a bleak, bleak tale of a mother's (Dominique Raymond) struggle to raise her family: seven illegitimate kids on a farm in rural southern France. All of the performances are so natural that the picture closely resembles a fly-on-the-wall documentary, that scores low in the entertainment stakes, but high on originality and keen socio-observation. Balancing the gritty realism with ethereal images of nature, Veysset delivers a film that, while painfully slow, still crawls under the skin and captures the imagination. Limited release only.

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