Chasing Ghosts in Un Carnet de bal

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like a cold breeze on a Tuesday, then yes, watch it immediately. It’s perfect for people who enjoy staring at old photographs and feeling slightly miserable about the passage of time. If you need a hero who learns a lesson or a plot that ties everything up in a neat little bow, stay far away.

The premise is simple, almost like a parlor trick. Christine finds this old dance card and just... goes. She walks into the lives of these men expecting to find the romance of her youth, but instead, she finds a whole lot of disappointment. It’s not a fun journey.

The weight of the past

The cinematography has this hazy, tired look that fits perfectly. Every time she visits one of these guys, you can feel the air leaving the room. It’s not just that they’ve aged; it’s that they’ve given up. One guy is a pathetic crook, another is just bored out of his mind. You can practically see the dust settling on their furniture.

There is this one scene with Louis Jouvet that just wrecked me. He’s playing a guy who clearly hasn’t had a decent conversation in years. The way he shifts in his chair, like he’s trying to hide his own skin—it’s just raw. He’s not acting; he’s just *existing* in his own regret.

Bits and pieces

• The editing feels a bit jumpy, like the movie is as restless as Christine is.
• Some of the side characters are played with such over-the-top energy it makes the quiet moments hit twice as hard.
• The ball sequence at the end is a total fever dream. It’s messy, loud, and feels like it’s happening underwater.

It’s funny, I was thinking about how different this is from something like A Tale of Two Cities. Where that movie is all about grand gestures and big, sweeping stakes, this is just tiny, quiet failures. Nobody saves the world here. They just sit in dimly lit rooms and wait for the sun to go down.

The pacing is weird. Sometimes it rushes through a meeting like it’s afraid of the guy, and other times it just parks itself and stares. I didn't mind it. It felt honest, in a weird way. Like someone trying to remember a dream but forgetting the important parts.

Anyway, don't expect to feel good when the credits roll. You’ll just want to call someone you haven't talked to in a decade, and that’s probably the point. 🕰️