Colours of Time is a 2025 French drama film directed by Cédric Klapisch, who also co-wrote the script with his regular writing partner, Argentinian screenwriter Santiago Amigorena. It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May and was released in France on the same day. It was released in the UK on 17 April, and I finally got around to seeing it on Thursday – and I am pleased to report that it was definitely worth the wait!

In 2024, an extended family becomes aware that they jointly own an abandoned house in Normandy, which local developers are eager to purchase. They appoint four of the thirty or so disparate family members to visit the house and report back. They find family photographs and an impressionist painting which take them back to 1895, when an ancestor, Adele (Suzanne Lindon), set out from the Normandy house to visit Paris in search of the mother she had never met.

The four are Seb (Abraham Wapler), Guy (Vincent Macaigne), Céline (Julia Piaton) and Abdel (Zinedine Soualem). They become absorbed in their investigation as they seek to understand the inter-relationships of the ancestors in the photographs, whilst learning perhaps more important lessons about the nature of family. Abdel enlists the assistance of an old friend who works at the Musee d’Orsay, Calixte (Cécile de France), to try to ascertain the identity/relevance of the painting.

Back in 1895, Adele has discovered that her mother is not quite the ‘Lady’ she thought, however, having become reconciled to her new reality, she sets out with the help of two young men, also from Normandy, who she met on the journey to Paris, Anatole (Paul Kircher) and Lucien (Vassili Schneider), to try to identify her father.

Anatole and Lucien are a painter and a photographer respectively; the possible candidates for Adele’s father are also a painter and a photographer. Consequently, the film needs to be beautifully shot, and the camerawork and cinematography do not let the side down.

Klapisch’s assured direction is, of course, inch perfect – I have been a huge fan of his work since first coming across him with the ‘Pot Luck’ trilogy. Both threads are equally absorbing, and all of the characters are a delight to spend time with. The acting is of the highest standard, and I particularly enjoyed a cameo performance from Dardenne Brothers’ stalwart Olivier Gourmet, although I will not spoil things by revealing the part he played.

If you get the chance to see Colours of Time at the cinema then grasp it – it is a joy to watch. I believe it is about to be showing at Picturehouse cinemas over the next week or so.