Film Review: ‘Declaration of War’ Combats Tragedy With New Wave Exuberance

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CHICAGO – Few semi-autobiographical explorations of high-stakes drama have ever been as playfully exuberant as Valérie Donzelli’s “Declaration of War.” Like Jonathan Levine and Will Reiser’s equally sublime “50/50,” this film is based directly on the real-life experiences of people who faced a cancer diagnosis and lived to tell the tale. Both pictures resist mawkish sentiment while delving into the rich textures and eccentricities of life.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Whereas Reiser’s script was reminiscent of Judd Apatow’s signature brand of humanistic and improvisational comedy, Donzelli’s script (which she wrote with her co-star and real-life lover, Jérémie Elkaïm) appears to have been inspired largely by the experimental whimsy of François Truffaut. Initially, the dramatic tonal shifts are somewhat jarring, and there are moments when the film veers into distractingly twee territory. Yet for the most part, Donzelli strikes a remarkable balance between seriousness and irreverence, with occasional doses of unexpected surrealism.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Declaration of War” in our reviews section.

The picture opens in romantic ecstasy as Roméo (Elkaïm) and Juliette (Donzelli) spot each other from across a room. He throws a peanut up in the air and she catches it directly in her mouth. Clearly, they were meant for each other. Yet this couple is too sharp to remain unaware of the ominous union of their names, and they start their relationship by musing on whether they may have inescapable tragedy in their future. The tragedy ends up materializing in the body of their son, Adam (played at eighteen months old by César Desseix), whose facial asymmetry is detected by kindly Dr. Prat (Béatrice De Staël). During the film’s first act, Donzelli cuts to kaleidoscopic imagery that is eventually revealed to be the brain tumor growing within her son. Once the news is broken, Roméo and Juliette have no choice but to declare war on a disease that they know little about. The script is loosely based on Donzelli and Elkaïm’s own experience of aiding their cancer-stricken young son, Gabriel, who eventually takes on the role of Adam himself. Though the intimately personal nature of the subject matter is undeniable, the writers insist in the production notes that the film technically isn’t “their” story. What most appealed to Elkaïm was the opportunity to omit his most painful experiences during the ordeal in order to present audiences with something good and beautiful. The resulting picture could easily resonate as one of the year’s most unlikely feel-good movies.

Continue reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Declaration of War” review.

Valérie Donzelli and Jérémie Elkaïm star in Declaration of War.
Photo credit: Sundance Selects