Des journées entières dans les arbres (Entire Days among the Trees). 1977. France. Written and directed by Marguerite Duras. With Madeleine Renaud, Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Aumont. DCP courtesy INA. In French; English subtitles. 95 min.
From a faraway former colony, an aging mother (Madeleine Renaud) arrives in Paris one last time to visit her favorite son (Jean-Pierre Aumont), a reprobate gambler and petty thief who nonetheless remains the irrational, devouring love of her life. Marguerite Duras, who adapted her 1954 novel and stage play for the screen, observed, “When I wrote the play it appeared to me that this piece of writing…related only to the love a mother has for her son: this amour fou, this oceanic movement that engulfs everything in its wake. Now I think…another aspect appeared alongside it: meaning the relationship between the two women—the mother and her son’s girlfriend, the little whore named Marcelle (Bulle Ogier).”