Interminable adaptation of Chronicles of a Hypochondriac. Ruiz puts
the wheezing Marcel firmly in the centre of his meandering
autobiography, and few audience members will leave feeling entirely
healthy given the time-and-space gimmicks employed to mimic the
narrative tricks of the novel. Unsaved by excellent cameos from Perez
as a sexy soldier, Deneuve in fine meretricious form, and George du
Fresne (Ma Vie En Rose) wide-eyed as the young Marcel – Proust's symbols
of a lost world. Malkovich provides interest as batty Baron Charlus;
his frank spanking scene earned the film an ill-deserved 18
certificate. There are quicker ways to die...
