2 Autumns, 3 Winters

2 Autumns, 3 Winters (French: 2 automnes 3 hivers) is a 2013 French film written and directed by Sébastien Betbeder.

2 Autumns, 3 Winters (2 automnes 3 hivers)
Directed by	Sébastien Betbeder
Written by	Sébastien Betbeder
Produced by	Frédéric Dubreuil
Starring	Vincent Macaigne Maud Wyler Bastien Bouillon Audrey Bastien Pauline Étienne
Cinematography	Sylvain Verdet
Edited by	Julie Dupré
Music by	Bertrand Betsch
Production companies	Envie de Tempête Productions Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) Arte
Distributed by	UFO Distribution (France) Film Movement (US)
Release dates	18 May 2013 (2013-05-18) (Cannes Film Festival) 10 October 2013 (2013-10-10) (HIFF) 25 December 2013 (2013-12-25) (France)
Running time	91 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	$400.000
Box office	$350.000[1]

Plot

The story is narrated by each of the major characters. At the beginning, 33-year-old Arman decides to change his life. For starters, he takes up jogging, which is how he has his first meeting with Amélie.

Cast

• Vincent Macaigne as Arman
• Maud Wyler as Amélie
• Bastien Bouillon as Benjamin
• Audrey Bastien as Katia
• Thomas Blanchard as Jan
• Pauline Etienne as Lucie
• Jean-Quentin Châtelain [fr] as Arman's father
• Olivier Chantreau [fr] as Guillaume
• Eriko Takeda [fr] as Hazuki
• Loïc Hourcastagnon as the small ninja
• Emmanuel Demonsant as the big ninja
• Philippe Crespeau as Benjamin's father
• Marie-Claude Roulin as Benjamin's mother
• Zacharie Chasseriaud [fr] as the skater
• Jérôme Thibault as the doctor

Release

The film had theatrical showings in North America as part of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema series 2014 program.^[2]

Critical response

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "low-key kind of dramedy" and a "quirky French indie that gets by more on style and sass than on its storytelling skills, [...] With endearing performances and crafty 16mm imagery, but also a tad too many winks to the camera, this Cannes ACID sidebar selection should see additional fest and niche art-house play".^[3]

Ronnie Scheib of Variety commented that "[i]n Sebastien Betbeder's playfully arty 2 Autumns, 3 Winters, three protagonists offer self-conscious riffs on their every thought and action, directly addressing the camera to describe past happenings, present happenings or what's about to occur momentarily. Mundane actions, trite exchanges and life-altering events all undergo the same literary alchemy, creating a matter-of-fact, Woody Allen-ish sense of complicity with the viewer. Maintaining a bemused, sometimes comic distance, Betbeder traces how happenstance crystallizes into biography as his characters traverse the titular seasons, with results that will delight some and alienate others."^[4]

Mike Russell of The Oregonian gave it a 'B' grade saying "[a] fair amount of traumatic stuff happens in 2 Autumns, 3 Winters [... b]ut writer/director Sébastien Betbeder's French seriocomic romance still feels light (or emotionally distant, depending), thanks to the film's fusillade of stylistic tics."^[5]