Ariane's Thread

Ariane's Thread (French: Au fil d'Ariane) is a 2014 French comedy-drama film (described by the director as a 'fantaisie') directed by Robert Guédiguian and written by Guédiguian and Serge Valletti.^[1]

Ariane's Thread
Film poster
Directed by	Robert Guédiguian
Written by	Robert Guédiguian Serge Valletti
Produced by	Marc Bordure Robert Guédiguian
Starring	Ariane Ascaride Jacques Boudet Jean-Pierre Darroussin Anaïs Demoustier Gérard Meylan
Cinematography	Pierre Milon
Edited by	Armelle Mahé Bernard Sasia
Music by	Eduardo Makaroff Christoph Müller
Production companies	Agat Films & Cie Chaocorp
Distributed by	Diaphana Films
Release date	18 June 2014 (2014-06-18)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Cast

• Ariane Ascaride as Ariane
• Jacques Boudet as Jack
• Jean-Pierre Darroussin as Taxi Driver / Stage Director
• Anaïs Demoustier as Martine / Actress
• Youssouf Djaoro as Night Watchman
• Adrien Jolivet as Raphaël
• Gérard Meylan as Denis
• Lola Naymark as Lola
• Judith Magre as The Turtle (voice)

Plot summary

It is Ariane's birthday and she finds herself alone in her quiet home. Everything is ready for a party but the guests are not there. She gets in her car and sets off for the city. At the harbour bridge she meets a young man Raphaël on a scooter who takes her to a seaside restaurant run by Denis. Raphaël abandons her for his girlfriend Lola, so she calls a taxi to go back to where she had left her car but it has been towed away. After going to an ATM to get money to pay the taxi driver she is robbed. She gets back to the beach restaurant and gets to know customer Jacques and the watchman Marcial; she is taken on to work at the café. The day sees further adventures... but with a happy ending.

Background

Robert Guédiguian admitted to several references for the film, including Pier Paolo Pasolini (the first text read by Jack on the necessity of myths), Anton Chekhov (the text on the eternal beauty of the world), Brecht (the song 'Comme on fait son lit, on se couche') as well as poet Aragon and song-writer Jean Ferrat. He also wanted to pay tribute to several strands of cinema: Drôle de drame (Carné and Prévert), Vivre sa vie (Godard), Fellini's La Dolce Vita with the fountain scene, to Pier Paolo Pasolini (the pilgrims who arrive as in his Gospel of Saint Matthew).^[2]

Reception

Ronnie Scheib of Variety had this to say: "While 'Ariane’s Thread' evokes the poetic realism of the 1930s French populist cinema of Feydeau, Prévert, Vigo and early Renoir, it does so less in terms of an organic visual style and more in terms of its expression of a shared ethos."^[3] Jerome Cabanel, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, considered "Yet while there aren’t too many rewards offered at the end of the maze [], there’s something pleasurable in soaking in the warm atmosphere and touching characters, with the director’s trusty cast indulging in a series of easygoing conversations and playful bickering []."^[4]