Unter dem Regenbogen – Ein Frühjahr in Paris (Under the Rainbow, Au bout du conte)
France 2013

Opening 17 Oct 2013

Directed by: Agnès Jaoui
Writing credits: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
Principal actors: Agathe Bonitzer, Agnès Jaoui, Arthur Dupont, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Benjamin Biolay

Once upon a time there was … a beautiful 24-year-old Parisian (Agathe Bonitzer) still waiting for her ‘Prince Charming’ to come along. Soon after his image is revealed to her in a dream, she meets him – a dashing young musician by the name of Sandro (Arthur Dupont) – at a ball. Enchanted by each other, they dance all night, never wanting to let go.

This is how most fairy tales end, but where this story actually begins. Agnès Jaoui (script/director) and Jean-Pierre Bacri (script) were interested in what happens after the happy end, when ‘life happens’. They developed the story from here and – in keeping with the spirit of a fairy tale – created a universe, populated by people whose characters (good, bad and evil) are modeled after those we know from famous fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Snow White. Though it is amusing to detect such parallels – most interestingly Benjamin Biolay (Maxime) impersonating the big bad wolf – it becomes tiring to keep track of the large cast, trying to sort their relationships, and follow the different – unfortunately not terribly interesting – stories. (Carola A)