My Favorite Season (Ma Saison Preferee)

"You've aged badly, Bruno," Catherine Deneuve tells her husband. The same cannot be said for her. Nearly 35 years after she enchanted the world in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (coming to sell-through at $29.98 on Jan. 27), Deneuve is still a regal screen presence. This compelling drama is a reminder that she has also matured into one of our great actresses. Deneuve stars as Emilie, who reexamines her marriage and her relationship with her long-estranged (and a little too dependent) brother (Daniel Auteuil), after her mother becomes increasingly unable to take care of herself. A harder sell, perhaps, then a crowd-pleasing crossover hit like Kolya, but one likes to think there is always a place for a film, foreign or domestic, with a universal story, literate script and brilliant ensemble. For what it's worth, Season was named the year's best foreign film by the Boston Society of Film Critics. (K. Lee Benson)