Caf de Flore is a multi-layered mystery about intertwined lovers separated by space and time. In modern Montreal, it begins with story about a husband, his new wife and the affairs of the heart. In the past, it's a rumination on a mother's devotion set in Paris of 1969.

There, Vanessa Paradis shines as Jacqueline, a young mother of Laurent, a child born with Down syndrome. Abandoned but bullheaded, Jacqueline loves her son with an almost frightening intensity. Every morning is a regimen of routines designed to give him a fighting chance. When the youngster admires the vigil candles at church, they appear on a birthday cake. When a classmate gives him a scrape, Mom dolls out a lesson in trash talking. Under this avalanche of affection, Laurent (Marin Gerrier) beams with a smile as wide as the sky.

Back in present day Montreal we settle in with Antoine, a hot D.J. married to Rose, a beauty with the curls of Botticelli's Venus. With the soundtrack cranked to 11, director Jean-Marc Valle introduces us to Antoine's seemingly perfect life: his charming daughters, their picture perfect house with the pool. He's the man who has it all, but he's haunted by the woman he left. Hlne Florent plays his first love, Carole. He made her mix tapes in high school and it seemed they were soulmates, until another caught Antoine's eye and the song changed.

(A brief world about the acting. Valle decided to audition musicians for the role of Antoine and singer-songwriter Kevin Parent landed the part. For a first timer, Parent does a great job of communicating Antoine's passion and also the baggage he's carrying. Also, kudos to Rosalie Fortier as Antoine's daughter Angeline, who's perfected the art of the teenage sulk.)

One storyline depicts a mother's love in 1969 Paris. (Alliance Films)

Caf de Flore is a movie where nothing is left to chance. Every inch of the frame, each colour and sound, is there to create a desired effect. Like a Steven Soderbergh or Danny Boyle, Valle reaches deep into his director's toolbox to paint the pictures he wants. Antoine and Rose float suspended in their pool like visions in blue. In a teenage flashback, young Carole literately walks on clouds. And the connective tissue between it all is the music. The wail of Sigur Ros. Or healing power of Pink Floyd's power chords.

Although each storyline has more than enough on its own, Valle toggles between the two like a DJ working the crossfader. As we fall deeper inside, the membrane between the two worlds fades, until we're barreling towards the pulse-pounding conclusion.

Valle first made his mark with another musical movie, C.R.A.Z.Y. Although he went through a divorce in 2003, he denies any connection between his own life and Antoine's regrets. Valle does admit to being a romantic. What he's done with Caf de Flore is taken his love of music, of a song that can stick in your head, and made a movie that leaves a resonance all its own. Sure, not everyone will swallow follow Caf de Flore's final leap in logic. But watch it a second time as I did and you'll see just how carefully it's constructed. There are no loose ends here, just the mark of a passionate filmmaker in a movie about love without limits.

Rating: 5/5