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
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