From the Land of the Moon (film)

Critical response

AlloCiné, a French cinema site, gave the film an average rating of 3.5/5, based on a survey of 30 French reviews.^[6]

For Time Out, reviewer Geoff Andrew commented that the film "starts fairly stodgily but then turns into something interesting, even a little unusual", a "tale of amour fou – loving the ideal of love, rather than an individual – and so Gabrielle is driven to distraction. Crucially, Garcia respects her dreams and desires, which are at odds with the mores of the time, but she doesn't romanticise the woman. The result, despite an uncertain start, is in the end a surprisingly intriguing and affecting movie."^[7]

American critics were less enthusiastic in their response. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 32% based on reviews from 56 critics, with an average score of 4.73/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "From the Land of the Moon benefits from striking visuals and strong work from Marion Cotillard, but they're both ultimately overcome by a story that drifts into wan melodrama."^[8] On Metacritic the film has a score of 40 out of 100, based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[9] Alan Zilberman of the Washington Post said, "Moments of visual beauty only call attention to the stilted dialogue and maudlin plot that otherwise define the film."^[10] Sheri Linden of the Los Angeles Times said, "Marion Cotillard shines", but director Garcia's "lush period drama equates hyper-romance with both self-realization and delusion, a proposition that proves more muddled than illuminating."^[11]

Box office

In France, From the Land of the Moon was released to 335 screens, where it debuted at number nine at the box office, selling 283,843 tickets.^[12] It sold a total of 669,856 tickets and grossed $4,718,885 after 13 weeks in French cinemas.^[13][2] The film grossed a total of $6,547,983 worldwide.^[2]

Accolades

The film was nominated for several awards at the César Awards and elsewhere in Europe, including for Cotillard's performance and the cinematography by Christophe Beaucarne.