Force Majeure-French with sub-titles – iTunes streaming video

This is a very interesting and well crafted movie which won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. The first half was great, while the second half was slow at times and not quite as compelling.  On the whole, however, this is a very good movie.  It is basically a drama, but also has some very clever and funny comic relief. Tomas (Johannes Kuhnke), his wife, Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli), and their elementary-school-aged son and daughter are on a ski vacation in a lovely French alpine resort.  They appear to be a very happy and solid family, at least on the first day. On the second day, while having lunch on the slopes, an avalanche appears to get out of control.  Just about everyone panics. Ebba grabs her kids and they go under the lunch table, while Tomas grabs his cell phone and flees the scene.  The avalanche never got to the restaurant and it was just a close call, but Tomas' response to the situation sets off an avalanche of emotions for every family member, further exacerbated by Tomas initially denying his actions. The film, written and directed by Ruben Oslund, is based on an actual incident that happened to a married couple that are friends of his.  They were having dinner at a restaurant when a gunman came in and started firing away. Instead of shielding his wife, the husband dove for cover, subsequently creating significant marital conflict.  (Apparently, when this type of situation occurs with married couples, there is subsequently a large percentage of divorces.) The script is very well written and rings true.  The acting is first-rate, especially Loven Kongsli. Rating - 8.0 - very good movie Dave