If you’re in the mood for a romantic drama that’s a little more cerebral than the usual fare—and by “a little” we mean “a lot”—you’ve come to the right place. Around the Sun is out in Australian cinemas right now.
We set our scene in picturesque Normandy, where film location scout Bernard (Gethin Anthony) is being shown around an abandoned French chateau he’s considering leasing for an upcoming production. His guide is real estate agent Maggie (Cara Theobold).
As they wander the expanse of the property, she tells him the grand old house is where, in the 17th century, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle wrote his tome Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds in the 17th century: a natural history and philosophical treatise on the heliocentric model of the universe, presented as a series of Socratic exchanges between a young noble and Fontenelle himself.
It’s not easy to summarise what happens from there without giving the game away. But while Around the Sun presents as a talky, philosophical two-hander in the vein of My Dinner with Andre or even Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, it’s far more formally ambitious. We go on to view this conversation from multiple angles and points of view, the meaning changing every time. Reality fragments, crucial details change, and postmodernism and metatextuality are the order of the day. Which means it may not be for everyone, but if you can connect with what the film is doing, you’re in for a treat.
Around the Sun comes to us from Greek-British director Oliver Krimpas and writer Jonathan Kiefer, who made the film a few years ago and released it onto the festival circuit in 2019 to critical acclaim. Now that it’s finally getting a wider release, audiences who want something more highbrow from their meet-cute movies will be well served.
