I've Loved You So Long
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Movie Reviews of I've Loved You So Long
Movie Review: She Achieves "Tragedienne" Status
Summary: 5 Stars
"I've Loved You So Long," ("Il ya longtemps que je t'aime") (2008) a French-speaking feature film, a drama/ mystery, and an exemplar of French "intimisme,"was first released in March 2008 in Belgium. It soon achieved theatrical release in art houses in the United States, probably because of its star, one of everyone's favorite English actresses, Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral;The English Patient). As a DVD, it comes to us, fortunately enough, with a choice of subtitles, or dubbed English. But back to Scott Thomas; what a bang-up year the woman has had, what with "I've Loved You So Long," and its close companion feature, Tell No One, also in French, which also achieved art house release here, probably due to her presence in the cast. She has married a French citizen, I understand, and taken up residence there, which goes to explain her sudden presence in French movies.
The film, which was nominated for two Golden Globes, was written and directed by Philippe Claudel: it is ably carried by the superior acting of Scott Thomas, who surely deserved her Golden Globes nod, and ought, perhaps, to have done even better than that. It concerns Juliette Fontaine, a frail woman, and a trained doctor, struggling to adjust herself to life, and her family, after having served 15 years in prison for the death of her son. Many scenes are heart-wrenching tennis matches, between Scott Thomas, and Elsa Zylberstein, who plays her sister Lea, and never misses a shot, either. I'd have to characterize it as a woman's picture, and a weeper, as well, emphasizing, as it does, children, emotion, love and other feelings. I was moved by the film's emphasis on these verities: to me, they are the straw we need to build the bricks that make our lives worthwhile: and while I'm at it, let me add that I doubt any audience member would ever think the intelligent Scott Thomas would commit the crime for which she has been jailed without an overwhelmingly good reason. But she surely does work up a head of emotional power, and, for an actor who began her career as a light comedienne, can now lay claim proudly to that traditional French theatrical title of acclaim: "tragedienne." Can literature's classic roles, such as Medea and Phaedra, be far behind?
Movie Review: homecoming, adjustment, guilt and redemption on an intimate scale
Summary: 5 Stars
Kristen Scott Thomas is Juliette, coming to live with her sister and family after 15 years in prison. Lea, her much younger sister played by Elsa Zylberstein, is a literature professor with a soccer-fanatic husband and two young adopted Vietnamese children, and they live comfortably in an unnamed medium-sized French city. The film very elegantly and naturally unfolds Juliettes past and what her crime was, building to an emotionally wrenching conclusion that I will not spoil for anyone who might be interested in seeing this - and anyone with the slightest interest in honest, personal and emotional film-making should certainly consider it.
One of the nicest aspects of the film is its portrayal of city living, as lived in by educated, intellectual types - this is a very far cry from the typical American suburbiana or even the New York and LA of most Hollywood films, a place of bookstores and cafés and people who actually walk and interact with each other in public - which is an element that is pretty difficult for Juliette to get a handle on after 15 years in isolation. Having been a big-city dweller myself - as well as a loner - for much of my life, this element in the film feels very real and accurate to me; the loneliness in the midst of life theme is something that was popular at one time (60s and 70s) in American cinema, but not so much anymore; it's good that the French still are interested in showing it.
Unlike Rachel Getting Married, which got released where I live at the same time, which deals with some similar themes - readjustment to life on the outside, difficulties with family, emotional differences between the formerly confined and most of the rest of the characters - this has a fully-formed, lived-in and natural feel to it, nothing feels forced or hurried and the emotions run the gamut from absolute coldness and distance, to rage, to shattering sorrow. Scott Thomas gives on of the best performances I have seen in the last five years, and Zylberstein is not far behind - this is one of the best portrayals of sisterly love I have seen and a really powerful portrait of the difficulties a person faces after a harrowing past - even when surrounded for the most part by love and understanding. There are a couple of odd choices in the screenplay that tend to simplify and ease the story near the end which I think are a little unfortunate, but even so I don't hesitate to call this one of the best films of 2008.
Movie Review: Great movie which shows the power of genuine love
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very touching film about the power of a sister's love and a loving community. This is the story of two sisters that had been separated for 15 years. The younger sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein) had adored her older sister Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) but she had to be separated from Juliette due to Juliette's prison term for murder of her son.
The movie begins with how the two sisters were reunited at the airport, and then like a puzzle, we get bits and pieces of the information -- the viewer slowly begins to understand what happened to Juliette and why she committed her deed. While this is happening, we are drawn to the transforming power of Lea's love for her sister Juliette, as Juliette slowly begins to pick up the pieces of her tragic life and begin to welcome life and love once more.
I can't go much further without spoiling the movie. I want to say that Kristin Scott Thomas' acting is nothing short of amazing. When we see her at the beginning of the movie, she is a living block of ice and her face expresses cold detachment coupled with extremely deep despair. We slowly get to see that ice thaw out, and Scott Thomas slowly metamorphasizes before our eyes. Thomas' French is impeccable as well.
Much credit also goes to Elsa Zylberstein's portrayal as Lea -- despite the hurt she's gone through, we see the unconditional love expressed through her expressions and her actions. It is moving also to see people around Juliette gradually get to accept her and love her for who she is -- warts, woundedness, and all.
The little bit parts are what makes this movie special. We see the change in perspective in how Lea's skeptical husband views Juliette. We see the sympathetic parole officer who enjoys his time talking to Juliette and expressing his desire to explore the Orinoco river. There's also Lea's male colleague Michele, who gradually forms a close friendship with Juliette, and who displays genuine empathy for Juliette's condition. There are the two adoring Vietnamese girls who play the daughters adopted by Lea and her husband Luc.
By the end of the movie, all the pieces of puzzle fit together, but also we see the light and the sunshine piercing through the gloom and darkness. What a powerful movie about how love can pierce through the darkness and melt the iciness of our broken and detached hearts. Simply amazing!
Movie Review: Almost Flawless
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a little embarrassed to review this movie because some other Amazon reviewers have already done such a good job. Yet in the end I'll add my ten cents worth because it bears repeating that this is definitely a movie to be seen by anyone who cares about quality film-making. Kristen Scott Thomas turns in the performance of a lifetime (how good it is to see her break free of those Repressed English Wife roles she tends to get stuck with) and the rest of the cast turn in performances that are almost on a par. The plot of the movie is less important than the subtlety with which the portrait of Scott Thomas' character is drawn. Shakespeare's plots, for example, are often a bit thin but it is his characterization and wonderful lines that we resonate with. Likewise with Il y a Longtemps Que Je T'Aime the plot device is merely the vehicle upon which to hang the central themes of love and suffering and forgiveness.
Some reviewers appear to be unable to come to terms with the notion of mercy killing, and thus their reviews all descend into a monotonic rant of "it's impossible to believe she'd kill her own son." Perhaps a quick glance over the Atlantic would help, because euthanasia is actually an important topic that receives a wide range of consideration in many countries outside the USA. More important than whether one "believes" it would be possible for a loving mother to want to spare her child unbearable suffering, the point of the movie is that no action is without consequences and we must learn somehow to live with them afterwards. American movies are too often full of violence and at the end the protagonist rides off into the sunset untroubled by the slaughter. Real life is much more complex than this, thank goodness, and this movie is really the antithesis of such pablum. This movie is about the "what happened afterwards" and although the denouement does feel just a trifle contrived it does so not because of its psychological veracity but because of the "surprise ending" cinematic convention. This movie didn't need such an artifice - it stands firmly on its main themes and superb execution in all areas. Really there is nothing weak at all in this film. Other reviewers have accurately commented on the superb performances, the superior camera work, the direction and editing. Everything works as it should, quietly and discretely, contributing to this beautiful little masterpiece.
Movie Review: A Brilliant Film on Every Level
Summary: 5 Stars
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG ('Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) is novelist Phillipe Claudel's first screenplay (he also serves as director). If this film is an indication of the themes and stories he has to tell then a new and gifted artist has come our way. Claudel knows how to take his audience along what appears to be a very quiet film while at the same time drawing the viewer into a story that feels like quicksand, so surely and gradually is the powerful element of the story revealed.
Juliette (a radiantly gifted Kristin Scott Thomas) has been imprisoned for murder for fifteen years and is released to the care of her emotionally estranged sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein): when young physician Juliette was quietly sentenced to prison, the sisters' parents disowned Juliette and raised Léa as an only child, refusing to allow her to communicate with her older sister. Léa is now married to Luc (Serge Hazanavicius) and the couple has adopted tow Vietnamese girls: Léa did not want to give birth to a child (an early clue as to the horrors revealed ahead). Juliette is practically mute, so seldom does she converse, and Luc is worried about having Juliette in his house: the 'murder' for which Juliette uncontestedly was imprisoned was her six year old son.
Juliette meets with her parole officer Capitaine Fauré (Frédéric Pierrot) who is supportive and shares Juliette's view of the world. She is interviewed and denied jobs because of her crime, but meets a few people with whom she can connect - especially the kindly Michel (Laurent Grévill). Gradually Juliette warms to her sister's family and to Léa to whom she tells the tragic facts of her past, facts that allow us to realize why Juliette is such a damaged creature.
The profound acting performance by Kristen Scott Thomas is a wonder to watch. The entire cast to very fine but Scott Thomas is riveting in a story that in another's hands would not have gained our empathy to the extent she achieves. There is much social commentary in this film with many levels of meaning that only become apparent after the film is over. It is a stunning masterpiece and deserves the attention of everyone who appreciates quality cinema. In French with English subtitles. Grady Harp, March 09