My reverie is broken. We Americans are not the only people who make movies about dysfunctional family holiday get-togethers.

Apparently the French can keep pace with us. Merde!

“Man Bites Dog” and “Delicatessen” might have been my first clues that the French were disturbed, but I held out hope for happy family Christmas celebrations.

I was wrong. C’est tragique.

“A Christmas Tale” centers around the matriarch of the Vuillard family (Catherine Deneuve). In her 60s, she has come down with a rare form of blood cancer. Worse still, she has a very rare blood type. Only a family member with compatible blood can give her a transfusion–but the marrow transfusion itself could killer her.

And thus her family comes home for what might be her last Christmas. And with her family comes many lifetimes of unresolved baggage. There’s the controlling oldest daughter with her psychologically disturbed teenage son. There’s the angry, alcoholic middle son. And there’s the naïve youngest son with his wife and two young boys.

The angry brother has compatible blood; so does the disturbed grandson.

Much yelling, hand wringing and angsty contemplation transpires…in French.

A former colleague told me this was her favorite Christmas movie. I had to had to had to see it, she insisted. She failed to mention it was a yelly movie.

Unmoved as I am by yelly movies, I can’t say I’m inspired to hang my wreath or trim my tree. Nor am I moved to slit my wrists–so, it’s not too bad.

The acting, led by Deneuve, is top notch. The direction by Arnaud Desplechin is smooth and fluid. On a technical level, I thought that they did an excellent job keeping the subtitles easy to read. There are no white letters on white space.

On a storytelling level, the characters struck me as neither wholesome nor charmingly deceitful. I had a difficult time feeling for many of the characters and their self-absorbed backstabbing ways.

I know that I’m too obtuse to get it. I know that this film has a huge following and many A+ reviews. I understand that I’ll never be a true art film aficionado because I can’t appreciate gritty family turmoil as entertaining, as so captured on film. But, then again, why would I want to join any club that would have me as a member. I don’t mind standing alone from time to time.

If you’re a fan of “Rachel Getting Married” and other such films, then this will probably be your cup of tea.