Old Joy – Films – Visions du Réel

Kelly Reichardt
United States | 2006 | 74 min
Language : English
Subtitles : French

Mark and Kurt, two friends in their thirties who haven’t seen each other in a long time, escape from Portland to the forests of Oregon. Time stands still for a weekend. It’s an opportunity to get to know each other again, to weigh up one another’s life choices, to revisit memories. A compelling film about the passage of time and its effect on friendship.

In their youth, Mark and Kurt were very close friends. Before the phone call that opens the film, the two thirty-somethings hadn't seen each other for years. Kurt invites Mark to spend a weekend in the Oregon forests, seeking out hot springs. A chance to escape the city, the daily grind of Portland; majestic fir trees become witnesses to their reunion, at times tentative and awkward. How to rediscover the complicity and synergy of the past when the pair have taken opposite paths in life? Mark now lives a life structured by significant responsibilities; he’s about to become a dad. Kurt, for his part, has opted for a life of drifting, unencumbered by attachments. Kelly Reichardt’s restrained film charts the complex story of this male friendship marked by as many resentments as tender gestures. This intimate, wooded space-time is punctuated by a fabulous soundtrack composed by the indie rock group Yo La Tengo, which beautifully complements the long silences exchanged between the protagonists.

Dimitri de Preux

1994 – River of Grass1999 – Ode – court-métrage2002 – Then a Year – court-métrage2004 – Travis – court-métrage2006 – Old Joy2008 – Wendy and Lucy2010 – Meek’s Cutoff2013 – Night Moves2016 – Certain Women2019 – First Cow2019 – Owl – court-métrage2021 – Bronx, New York, Novembre 2019 – court-métrage2021 – Cal State Long Beach, CA, Janvier 2020 – court-métrage2022 – Showing Up2025 – The Mastermind