Jean Michaux (Daniel Prévost) is the perfect example of a hateful man. As scornful with his workmates than with his neighbour, he has no family, no friends and his love life is like a desert. One day, he's fired and he has to assess the disaster of his existence with nowhere to go. He makes the acquaintance of a sweet, dreamy young man called Antoine (Serge Hazanavicius) who is his polar opposite. Though they seem to have nothing in common, Jean offers him to go with him to la Baule where he has to pay a visit to his uncle.
You probably guessed what will Jean's behaviour become after having read the last lines of the above summary and you will be mostly right. Beside Antoine and not without some clashes, Jean rediscovers the values of life and friendship but what makes le Soleil Au-Dessus des Nuages so endearing is the delicate tenderness, the filmmaker Eric Le Roch wraps around his characters. Straddling two genres: road movie and initiatory tale, the director eschews many narrative pitfalls or more than predictable developments his subject was prone to in the evolution of his protagonists. Jean isn't always wicked and even after so many years spent in the wilderness, he can show love and tenderness albeit with reserve around him, especially when his former love Virginie (Hélène Vincent) magically reappears. Furthermore, Eric Le Roch had the cleverness not to treat in its entirety their burgeoning love affair. As for Antoine, though he shelters his own vulnerability and several weaknesses, one can only admire his strength to support Jean's odious attitude and his patience will bear its fruits for one can be touched by Jean's metamorphosis.
I have underscored the sensibility with whick the director loves his characters and this fineness of style coupled with a discreet humor serves as the main motor of the movie. In the end, it's impossible to resist its underlying message: no matter what your age is, it's never too late to start your life again and eventually to see the sun above the clouds. Add an exotic feel good vibe provided by the various scenery and you get a subtle piece of work from a director who, for his first feature film was in full possession of his means. Shame, his cinematographic career was short-lived.
And at last, Lucid Beausonge's magnificent song during the end credits reinforces the positive, though wistful aura the movie conveys.
