Tenderness (La tendresse) Trailer (2013)

Trailer for Tenderness.

A film of small moments and grand themes, Marion Hansel's delicate and richly sincere road movie Tenderness brings a long-divorced couple back together, as they put their differences aside to help their only child, hospitalized in France following an accident.

Separated for 15 years, 50-somethings Frans (Olivier Gourmet) and Lisa (Marilyne Canto) immediately drop everything when they hear news that their son Jack (Adrien Jolivet) has fractured his leg while skiing with his new girlfriend. Needing to collect both Jack and his car, they set off for the day-long drive from Brussels to the French resort of Flaine. There is little animosity between the two -- they have clearly kept in touch -- but as the journey commences, old irritations and habits begin to surface. What do they still feel for one another? Indifference, rancour, jealousy? Or perhaps complicity, friendship... and, who knows, love?

Tenderness, true to its title, isn't a tale of immense conflict or overblown drama, rather a compassionate, warm-hearted and often funny depiction of love and affection. Beautifully shot (the cinemascope vistas - whether they be snowy mountains or open European motorways - are stunning) and featuring charmingly natural and believable performances from Canto and Gourmet, with a lovely appearance by the irrepressible Sergi Lopez, this is a simple but profound story of the good that can happen when people care about each other, and the joy of time well spent in the company of family, even those that have been separated by time, distance and difference.