The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

French sleeper hit, The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, became one of Frances’s biggest must-see, word of mouth movies of 2008, notching up over 1.2million admissions. In June, EIFF audiences agreed, marking the film their third favourite of the Festival. First Day is a charming dark comedy, likely to strike a chord in everyone, as the French, ensemble family drama charts the rights of passage of this family of five. They fight, love and live through first loves, first jobs, family gatherings and family departures in a series of beautifully and comically observed passages of time, growing up and growing older, and occasionally wiser.

At the centre of the family is Marie-Jeanne (Zabou Breitman), distraught at the thought of her eldest leaving home and taxi driver husband Robert (Jacques Gamblin). They have three children: Albert (Pio Marmai) – the elder son carrying the families’ hopes and expectations on his shoulders, Raphaël (Marc-André Grondin) – the family dreamer and Fleur (Déborah François) - the younger sister, desperate to catch up with her siblings, only to find the turbulence of teenage hormones awaiting her, as well as the death of Kurt Cobain. The film is a portrait of their family life sketched out over twelve years, through five key days. Five crucial days in the life of each person, which resonate across the whole family, informing and altering their lives in passionate, playful and irriversible ways. Written and directed by Rémi Bezançon, First Day also combines an evocative soundtrack, including tracks from David Bowie, Lou Reed and The Divine Comedy.