On the very least, María Álvarez’s “Le Temps Perdu” may give hope to anybody who has at all times meant to complete — or begin — Proust. Shot virtually completely in a Buenos Aires cafe, the comfy black-and-white documentary sits in with a bunch of seniors who collect to savor “In Search of Misplaced Time” in Spanish translation. They’ve gone by the novel a couple of occasions, assembly for almost 20 years.
Seated round a desk, the women and men learn aloud from what seem like laminated printouts from the beloved multivolume ebook. They muse over sure passages and share echoes with their day by day lives: the enduring reminiscence of a late husband’s smile, or a hospital go to the place madeleines had been on the menu. One man retains explaining that his daughter is called Albertine, like the important thing character within the ebook who’s the narrator’s romantic obsession.
The movie, maybe like a sure author, seeks out the nexus between the quotidian and the transcendent within the group’s exercise, ebook ended by poetic montages and liberal use of Debussy’s “Syrinx.” There’s some poignancy and amusement in how the experiences of time and love transpire within the novel and within the readers’ lives. (The film might be finest seen in a cinema, one other communal area.)
You couldn’t ask for richer studying materials, even when the movie doesn’t fairly reside as much as the promise of its premise. Imagine it or not, there’s already stiff competitors: an identical documentary from 2013, “The Joycean Society,” tackles “Finnegans Wake” in just below an hour.
Le Temps Perdu
Not rated. In Spanish with subtitles. Working time: 1 hour 42 minutes. In theaters.