Butler's Cinema Scene

Jeremie Elkaine (center) and Valerie Donzelli

“DECLARATION OF WAR” My rating: B (Opening March 16 at the Tivoli)

100 minutes | No MPAA rating

Films about desperately sick children tend to follow a certain, predictable format.

But in “Declaration of War” — France’s official entry in this year’s Oscar race for foreign language film — writer/director/actress Valerie Donzelli strikes out in a brave and satisfying new direction. There’s nothing predictable about it.

For starters, it’s less the story of an ill child than of his parents, two attractive young people whose lives are turned upside down. The little boy, Adam, vanishes from the story for long stretches because Donzelli’s true emphasis lies elsewhere.

And her style breaks all the rules. Entire conversations unfold without us being allowed to hear the dialogue. There’s no need for lots of declamatory emoting; sometimes a gesture is far more eloquent.

Juliette (director Donzelli) and Romeo (Jeremie Elkaim, who co-wrote the screenplay) meet in a crowded dance club and in a marvelous montage — one that flirts with love story cliches without actually succumbing to them — we see their courtship and early life together. (Apparently they never marry.)

They have a baby boy. They deal with sleep deprivation. But, really, life could hardly be better.

But as Adam approaches age two, Romeo and Juliette become concerned over his apparent lack of development. The diagnosis: a brain tumor.

And so begins their long journey through the medical system. They literally move into a children’s hospital to be with their son. They worry and fret. They try to find release by clubbing and seeing old friends. They debate over how to deal with parents. They argue. They kiss and make up.

This is going to sound implausible, but “Declaration of War” is often terribly playful, with an eclectic musical soundtrack and a kinetic, jerky editing style like something out of “A Hard Day’s Night.”

At one point Juliette and Romeo even break out in song, “Magnolia”-style.

All of this tends to make a scary story more palatable, without sacrificing genuine feeling.

By the time it’s over you feel you’ve become friends with these people.

And I haven’t even mentioned what, for Americans, is the most astounding part of this story … namely that the young couple and their child receive all this amazing medical care gratis.

Socialized medicine? Sounds pretty freaking good to me.

| Robert W. Butler