Watch My Golden Days

In 2015, acclaimed French director Arnaud Desplechin released a movie named "My Golden Days," which managed to capture the hearts of the audience with its relatable and poignant storyline. The coming-of-age drama stars Quentin Dolmaire, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, and Mathieu Amalric. The story follows the life of Paul Dédalus (Mathieu Amalric), a middle-aged anthropologist who is preparing to leave Tajikistan, his current place of work, after spending a considerable amount of time there. While getting ready to pack his belongings, Paul is overcome with a sense of nostalgia, and his thoughts take him back to his teenage years in Roubaix, Northern France.

As Paul recalls his past, the movie goes into a flashback, depicting his experiences as a young man. We see him growing up with his single mother and younger sister in a rough neighborhood, where their Jewish identity often made them outsiders. Paul (Quentin Dolmaire), then a teenager, goes to Paris as a part of an exchange program where he falls head over heels in love with the enigmatic Esther (Lou Roy-Lecollinet).

The first part of the movie is an engaging and immersive exploration of youthful exuberance, a time of experiencing first love, personal growth, and self-discovery. Even as the story injects heartbreak and emotional turbulence into the mix, the experience of watching the movie is so authentic that the audience can relate to it on a visceral level.

As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that the adult Paul is dealing with a past that is no less complicated than his teenage years. Since he has been in Tajikistan for a long time, Paul does not realize the impact that the relationships from his youth still have on him. As he grapples with his past, Paul has to come to terms with things that were left unsettled from his teenage years.

Throughout the film, Desplechin takes a unique approach to storytelling by weaving in recurring themes of displacement, identity, and memory. The narrative also explores Paul's relationship with his younger sister, Delphine (Lily Taieb), the only person who provides him with a sense of constancy through his difficult times.

The director is adept at capturing the emotional nuances of the characters expertly. The performances by the cast are exceptional, with Quentin Dolmaire, in particular, delivering an impressive portrayal of a young man navigating the complexities of his adolescent years.

In conclusion, "My Golden Days" is a poignant, sensitive, and intimate portrayal of a person's coming-of-age years and their emotional journey through various stages of life. Desplechin's vision and execution of the story are both nuanced and personal, making it an unforgettable cinematic masterpiece.

My Golden Days is a 2016 drama with a runtime of 2 hours. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.7 and a MetaScore of 87.