Synopsis
Roméo and Juliette are two young actors. They fall in love at first sight, move in together and make a baby. A love story and the founding of a home like millions of others. Except that their little boy, Adam, behaves abnormally. The young parents try hard to persuade themselves that everything is okay but, with the passing of time, they cannot delude themselves anymore: their son has a problem. From now on, war is declared. A war against illness. A war against Death. A war against despair.
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Cast
- Valérie DonzelliJuliette
- Jérémie ElkaïmRoméo
- Gabriel ElkaïmAdam Benaïm à 8 ans
- Brigitte SyClaudia Benaïm
- César DesseixAdam Benaïm à 18 mois
- Elina LöwensohnAlex
- Philippe LaudenbachPhilippe
- Bastien BouillonNikos
- Béatrice de StaëlGhislaine Prat
- Michèle MorettiGeneviève
Recommendations
- 91
The A.V. Club
Sprinting through hospital rooms, parties, sterile corridors, and grayish courtyards, Declaration Of War salutes its characters' capacity to step up and meet life's harshest unexpected demands. - 80
Village Voice
Shot in the actual hospital where Donzelli and Elkaïm's actual son was treated for cancer, Declaration of War turns autobiography into thrilling expressionist art. - 80
Time Out
Parenting relies on stamina as much as compassion, and Donzelli has, against all odds, crafted a genuinely moving ode to both the tenacity of filial love under extreme circumstances and the toll it extracts. Consider this a coup. - 80
The New York Times
For all its quirks and tangents, Declaration of War feels entirely alive. This story of two people who transform fear into action is inspiring. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
An adventurous song selection and stylish narrative techniques put a strangely romantic face on a harrowing story that's a parental nightmare. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
What a treat to find a movie so bright-eyed and true - without a trace of bathos - in its depiction of such a harrowing subject. - 65
Movieline
Between the Truffautish voice-overs and Jacques Demy-style musical interludes, it's a wonder anyone in this sort-of drama, sort-of comedy ever gets any rest. - 63
Slant Magazine
The surest sign that a filmmaker recognizes the insularity of his or her project is the presence of perfunctory attempts to hint at a wider political context.
