All the Mornings of the World (1991)

Movie · 1991 · Drama, History, Music, Romance · 1h 55m · NR · French

Curator score: 7.8/10 (15.4K ratings)

Overview

Following the death of his wife, a renowned musician ostracises himself from the outer world and dedicates his life to music. However, his life changes when a young man approaches him to learn music.

Ratings

Director

Alain Corneau

Production

FR3 Films Production, DD Productions, Film Par Film, Divali Films, Societé d'Exploitation et de Distribution de Films (SEDIF)

Cast

Jean-Pierre Marielle, Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, Guillaume Depardieu, Carole Richert, Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Yves Gasc, Yves Lambrecht, Jean-Marie Poirier, Myriam Boyer, Violaine Lacroix, Nadège Teron, Caroline Silhol, Philippe Duclos, Yves Gourvil

Curator Review

Verdict

A hushed, intensely felt period drama that treats music as memory, grief, and spiritual discipline. Its appeal is less plot than atmosphere: exquisite performances, painterly visuals, and a deep emotional current running through every rehearsal and silence.

Best for

  • viewers who like elegant historical dramas
  • fans of films about artistic obsession and mentorship
  • people drawn to melancholy, contemplative cinema
  • audiences who appreciate period detail and classical music

Skip if

  • you want a fast-moving or plot-heavy story
  • you prefer overt emotion over restraint
  • you are not interested in classical music or Baroque performance
  • you dislike austere, meditative period pieces

Overview

All the Mornings of the World is a film of grief held in perfect posture. It follows a master musician who has turned away from the world, and a younger player who wants to learn not just technique but the meaning behind it. The result is a quiet drama about devotion, loss, and the strange way art can preserve what life has taken away.

Worth noting

What makes it linger is how completely it understands music as emotional language. The performances are restrained but piercing, and the film’s period textures feel lived-in rather than decorative. It builds its power through silences, glances, and the ache of things unsaid, making every piece of music feel like a summons from the dead.

Bottom line

This is not a broad crowd-pleaser, but for the right viewer it is deeply moving. If you respond to films that treat artistic practice as a form of mourning, and if you enjoy historical cinema with a severe, lyrical beauty, this is an easy recommendation.

Top Letterboxd reviews

Ben Gordon (4★) · 101 likes

On the surface this is a simple story of a fanatical Baroque composer and his pupil, beautifully filmed and performed. What distinguishes Tous les Matins du Monde from any other period melodrama is its usage and exploration of music; specifically how music evokes moments and persons long gone, summoning an untouchable presence, mitigating the pain of absence while paradoxically deepening the void. Especially moving in how it grapples with the consequences of lifelong devotion, whether to a person or a craft, and what it means when those two things are intertwined. A ghost story.

lilyphilia (3.5★) · 70 likes

"Music exists to say things that words cannot say."

Thehoennhippo (2.5★) · 62 likes

I like the bit where he casually drops the fact that he has a girthy dick into his sad backstory.

Halah. (5★) · 56 likes

كل صباحات العالم، ولكن هذا الفيلم لا يعكس إشراقةِ أيٍّ منها، تقدّم فيه الموسيقى على أنها كيان غامض ومنعزل، وتدور حول حقيقتها الكثير من الأسئلة، هل هي ما نسمع أم ما نرى أم ما نحسّ؟ حيث الإجابة تكشف عن نفسها ببطء على مدار ساعتين، حتى يُفكّ ارتباطها عن الجانب الحيّ في الإنسان، فلم تعد مرتبطة بالغناء والرقص والاحتفال، بل أنها تمسّ الجانب الميت فيه أيضًا، لا لغرض إحيائه، وإنما لخلق حالة من العزاء دائمة ومستمرة، ورغم أن الموسيقى خالية من… more كل صباحات العالم، ولكن هذا الفيلم لا يعكس إشراقةِ أيٍّ منها، تقدّم فيه الموسيقى على أنها كيان غامض ومنعزل، وتدور حول حقيقتها الكثير من الأسئلة، هل هي ما نسمع أم ما نرى أم ما نحسّ؟ حيث الإجابة تكشف عن نفسها ببطء على مدار ساعتين، حتى يُفكّ ارتباطها عن الجانب الحيّ في الإنسان، فلم تعد مرتبطة بالغناء والرقص والاحتفال، بل أنها تمسّ الجانب الميت فيه أيضًا، لا لغرض إحيائه، وإنما لخلق حالة من العزاء دائمة ومستمرة، ورغم أن الموسيقى خالية من… more

‮الوليد‬ (4.5★) · 48 likes

فيلم ال ٥٠٠ متابع لازم يتم اختياره بعنايه و كان من توصية وليد و بالنسبه لي الفيلم أعظم ما قدمت السينما الفرنسيه ثالث أفضل فيلم موسيقي شفته بحياتي من أعظم ما تناول العزلة و الفقد من أفضل التجارب الهادئة الي عشتها من أعظم التجارب الشعوريه الي مرت علي و أكثر فيلم اندرريتد شفته بحياتي و يستحق يكون فيلم ال ٥٠٠ فولو A 500-follower film has to be chosen carefully, and this one was a recommendation from Walid. For me, the film… more

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Topics

period drama, classical music, Baroque, melancholy, austere, lyrical, historical romance, artistic obsession, French cinema, meditative

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