Every year I say I'm not going to see any French films, and then every year I do. This year is no exception, and this year's French film is Il y a longtemps que je t'aime from first-time director Philippe Claudel. It stars Kristin Scott Thomas, who was English last time I checked. In fact, there is mention of Scott Thomas' character, Juliette, having spent some time in England, and I wondered at the time if that was in the original script, or if they just stuck that line in there to explain away her imperfect French accent. Like I would have caught that (stupide Américain!).
The film opens with Juliette waiting for her sister to pick her up at a small airport, smoking a cigarette. Juliette is emotionally cold and quiet. Her sister, Lea (Elsa Zylberstein) seems to be trying to keep things light, though she's obviously uncomfortable. They haven't seen each other in at least 15 years.
The rest of the movie slowly reveals the secrets of Juliette's past and the reason for her disappearance, peeling back past the layers that Lea knows and eventually down into core of Juliette's troubled past.
Claudel, a well known author in France, skillfully develops his characters and weaves us in and out of suspenseful situations. I'll probably see another French film at next year's festival, thanks to him. It had better be good. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment