Chicken With Plums

2011 Drama

Persepolis co-directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud make the leap from animation to live action with this expressionistic adaptation of Satrapi's graphic novel about a mercurial violinist who embraces death and embarks on a surreal journey through the past and future after his beloved instrument is destroyed. Tehran, 1958: Nasser-Ali (Mathieu Amalric) has devoted his entire life to music. The violin bequeathed to him by his musical guru more cherished than his own wife and children, Nasser writes music capable of stirring the soul, and pours his whole heart into every note. When that instrument is broken beyond repair, the crestfallen musician retreats to his bed and invites death to take him. But the Grim Reaper refuses to comply, and instead Nassir finds himself inexplicably transported deep into his past before being thrust into the future to witness the fates of his neglected children firsthand. Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros, and Isabella Rossellini co-star. more..

Director: Marjane Satrapi

Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani

Reviews

  • At the end we are left with the reflection that human consciousness is the great miracle of evolution, and all the rest (sight, sound, taste, hearing, smell, touch) are simply a toolbox that consciousness has supplied for itself.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    27 May 2013

  • The movie has done what those who've cherished the book might have thought impossible -- intensified its singular beauty by roving as free and fearlessly as Bauby's mind did.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    27 May 2013

  • Director Julian Schnabel and screenwriter Ronald Harwood have performed a small miracle in adapting for the screen Jean-Dominique Bauby's autobiography The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

    Ray Bennett - The Hollywood Reporter

    27 May 2013

  • It is wonderful: a rhapsodic adaptation of a memoir, a visual marvel that wraps its subject in screen romanticism without romanticizing his affliction. It left me feeling euphoric.

    Michael Phillips - The Chicago Tribune

    27 May 2013

  • The most beautiful movie ever made about a man who could only move one eyelid -- almost dangerously beautiful.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    27 May 2013

Awards

  • Movie of the Year

    AFI Awards (2008)

  • Best Feature Film

    AFI Fest (2007)

  • Best Achievement in Cinematography

    Academy Awards (2008)

     
  • Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases

    American Society of Cinematographers (2008)

     
  • Best Foreign Film, Not in the Spanish Language (Mejor Película Extranjera)

    Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards (2009)