There is a lot to love in Philippe Claudel's film 'I've Loved You So Long'. This is a completely character driven film which has little to do with plot and story progression. Juliette remains a fascinating character throughout the film due to her past actions. Claudel keeps the viewer intrigued about getting to know why she did what she did in her past life. The character moments of her bonding with her sister Lea after a long spell of alienation while Lea's husband remains somewhat apprehensive felt very natural and intimate. Juliette's scenes with Lea and Luc's daughters were also executed with the right amount of intimacy and complexity.
Kristin Scott's Thomas' performance is probably the best thing in the entire film. She is playing a character who has not been able to forgive herself for her actions. The pain, the guilt and the suffering is completely visible in her eyes, her face and her expressions. She plays the role of a broken character who has been given an opportunity to start afresh after being released from prison, but Thomas' detached and restrained demeanour shows us perfectly that Juliette might have been released from prison, but she has not been able to get over her past and forgive herself. She slowly begins to loosen up as the film progresses to try to move on and restart her life. Elsa Zylberstein also deserves a mention. She puts a lot of humanity in the character of Lea giving her a sensitive layer.
The direction is restrained and non-flashy which I think is the best way to approach a mature and immensely personal subject such as this. Claudel allows the actors/characters to take center stage instead of using directorial flourishes that draw attention. Once or twice, he will slowly zoom into a character's face to pick up a particular transition in expression or use a meticulously framed shot to imply a bigger theme. There is one distinctive long take in the film which is very well executed. We move from one part of the house to another in the uninterrupted shot and Claudel gently shows the transition of the mood from pleasant to awkward and back to pleasant again during that one single take. The stripped down, raw manner in which the main characters are explored is a bit reminiscent of Mike Leigh, while the awkwardness that engulfs certain other scenes are Haneke-esque.
However, I think the film has its flaws too which are mostly in its script. There are a few individual scenes in the film that felt very weak and clichéd like the scene with the arm dislocation or the scene with the discussion on Dostoyevsky or even the manner in which a co-incidence is used to make Lea aware of the facts that led Juliette to do what she did in the past. These scenes felt rushed, underdeveloped and a bit out of place from the rest of the film. They don't damage the film completely, but they certainly do stick out in a big way.
Overall, 'I've Loved You So Long' is a good film with a fantastic performance from Kristin Scott Thomas. The conflict and the theme of the film is very intimate and relatable. Philippe Claudel's direction is mature, but the writing in some scenes is a bit weak. But it certainly should be recommended.
Kristin Scott's Thomas' performance is probably the best thing in the entire film. She is playing a character who has not been able to forgive herself for her actions. The pain, the guilt and the suffering is completely visible in her eyes, her face and her expressions. She plays the role of a broken character who has been given an opportunity to start afresh after being released from prison, but Thomas' detached and restrained demeanour shows us perfectly that Juliette might have been released from prison, but she has not been able to get over her past and forgive herself. She slowly begins to loosen up as the film progresses to try to move on and restart her life. Elsa Zylberstein also deserves a mention. She puts a lot of humanity in the character of Lea giving her a sensitive layer.
The direction is restrained and non-flashy which I think is the best way to approach a mature and immensely personal subject such as this. Claudel allows the actors/characters to take center stage instead of using directorial flourishes that draw attention. Once or twice, he will slowly zoom into a character's face to pick up a particular transition in expression or use a meticulously framed shot to imply a bigger theme. There is one distinctive long take in the film which is very well executed. We move from one part of the house to another in the uninterrupted shot and Claudel gently shows the transition of the mood from pleasant to awkward and back to pleasant again during that one single take. The stripped down, raw manner in which the main characters are explored is a bit reminiscent of Mike Leigh, while the awkwardness that engulfs certain other scenes are Haneke-esque.
However, I think the film has its flaws too which are mostly in its script. There are a few individual scenes in the film that felt very weak and clichéd like the scene with the arm dislocation or the scene with the discussion on Dostoyevsky or even the manner in which a co-incidence is used to make Lea aware of the facts that led Juliette to do what she did in the past. These scenes felt rushed, underdeveloped and a bit out of place from the rest of the film. They don't damage the film completely, but they certainly do stick out in a big way.
Overall, 'I've Loved You So Long' is a good film with a fantastic performance from Kristin Scott Thomas. The conflict and the theme of the film is very intimate and relatable. Philippe Claudel's direction is mature, but the writing in some scenes is a bit weak. But it certainly should be recommended.