ABSTRACT
A reflection on time and memory and a bold parody of civilian life during the Great War, Le Temps retrouve is also, at the same time, a chronicle of social change and an aesthetic treaty that outlines Marcel Proust's ideas on art and literature. The marketing of Raoul Ruiz's Temps retrouve, however, presented it first and foremost as a heritage piece, and at first glance, the film does present classic features of the historical film. Actors become incarnations of a variety of genres, and movements that marked its history the cinematic memory they carry with them creates symmetries with the film's aesthetic and thematic quotations. The only stable reference point in the highly disjointed film narrative is the Narrator himself, who, in striking contrast to the original, is endowed with a heavy physical presence in the film. The director's approach appears to coincide with the Proustian conception of art and the work of memory and representation on several grounds.
