L'attesa (2015) User Reviews

Keeping you guessing from start to finish

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 14 May 2016]

"L'Attesa" (2015 release from Italy; 99 min.; English title: "The Wait") brings the story of two women. As the movie opens, we see Anna (played by Juliette Binoche) at a church service, it looks like a funeral. Not long thereafter, Anna gets a phone call, during which she mentions "He's not here, I'm his mother, but come on over". Shortly thereafter, a young lady named Jeanne arrives at the estate (in Sicily, we later learn). She is the girlfriend of Anna's son Giuseppe. Anna tells her that Giuseppe will be back later in the week, in time for Easter. Where is Giuseppe? Why won't he take Jeanne's calls? What is really going on here? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the feature debut of Italian writer-director Piero Messina, who previously was assistant-director in the Oscar-winning "The Great Beauty". Here, he builds a mystery as to why Giuseppe is absent, when he might return (or not) and what really happened to him. We are left guessing from start to finish, while we see the great Juliette Binoche deliver another towering performance as she grieves (whose funeral was that anyway? do we really believe it when Anna tells Jeanne "My brother died"?), Up-and-coming French actress Lou de Laâge as Jeanne is equally outstanding, a new talent we surely have not seen the last of. As mentioned, the movie is set in Sicily, which I typically do not associate with lakes and water, both of which are prominent in the film. Last but certainly not least, there is a ton of great music in the movie, both the original score (which director Messina co-composed I might add) and songs placements. There is a note-worthy scene in the movie which plays out as Leonard Cohen's "Waiting for the Miracle" is blaring, and the XX's "Missing" plays over the movie's end credits. There couldn't have been a more appropriate song to close out the movie.

"L'Attesa" opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at turned out to be a private screening: I was literally the only person in the theater, to my surprise. That said, it is clear that this movie is going to struggle to find a large audience: it is slow-moving, with no clear resolutions, and "all talk, no action". These are not criticisms as far as I'm concerned, au contraire, I found myself mesmerized by the way the movie unfolded, and this flew by in no time. If you are in the mood for a somber but top-notch foreign film dealing with grief, absence, and longing, I'd encourage you to check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "L'Attesa" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Art-house cinema of the slow kind

[MOscarbradley · 5/10 · 18 May 2017]

This visually beautiful, if self-consciously arty, Italian film marks the feature debut of Piero Messina who certainly displays all the promise of a major film-maker if he can only learn to move things along at a somewhat more acceptable pace and be less concerned with the 'look' of his films and more concerned with the feelings of his characters. This is a somewhat high-toned piece based on a play by Pirandello and it's very much designed around the performances of Juliette Binoche as a grieving mother and Lou de Laage as her son's girlfriend. It's certainly well done but it also smacks of the worst kind of art-house cinema; this is Antonioni-light. See it by all means though you may have to keep pinching yourself from time to time to stay awake.

Well made? Perhaps...but to me the film really made no sense at all.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 23 August 2016]

"The Wait" ("L'Attesa") is a film that has really nice acting but the story itself didn't do much for me. Its vague ending left me cold and the behaviors of the leading lady, Anna (Juliet Binoche) just didn't make a lot of sense--regardless of what REALLY happened at the end.

When the film begins, Jeanne (Lou de Laâge) arrives at a Sicilian villa and instead of being greeted, she's given a meal by a servant and then retires to bed without seeing the woman of the house, Anna. The next day, Jeanne comes downstairs and finds that there's been some sort of funeral...and Jeanne tells her it's because her brother died...though it's pretty obvious that this might NOT be the truth. Jeanne has come to see Anna's son and spend her vacation with him....but through the course of the film, the son never arrives and Jeanne is feeling abandoned...though Anna and her seem to have a few moments together bonding.

Where does all this go? Well, as I mentioned above, the ending is a bit vague and it's easy to see two very different interpretations. I didn't really care about either one because Anna's actions simply didn't make much sense....and because of that the film lost me. Well acted, this film needed some better writing as the characters didn't always seem realistic or believable.

Is That You, Godot?

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 26 July 2016]

There have to be easier things than penetrating this movie, like climbing Everest on skis, knitting steam, or convincing Jeremy Corbyn he's a dork. I COULD start by saying that Juliette Binoche is brilliant. There's no answer to that except so what else is new; Binoche is always brilliant. Brilliant is what she does. This is a film of silences. In fact there are more silences here than in the Collected Plays of Harold Pinter; Volumes 1 - 3. It's clearly aimed at the heart of the Academic- Pseud axis because you can speculate what the hell it's about till the cows come home and like all classics of the genre it poses more questions than it answers like where has the girlfriend of the missing son come from, how can she afford to stay indefinitely in the house with no visible means of support and, perhaps crucially, what actually happened the previous summer between her and the son. You could speculate on any or all of this or you could wallow in the sumptuous photography/scenery and Binoche's tour de force or, alternatively, you could play a game of chess in your head. Either way it's a hundred minutes you'll never see again.

You will find yourself asking the same question

[BlissQuest · 6/10 · 7 August 2017]

Juliet Binoche's master-class skills as an actress are unequivocal, but the gargantuan task of convincing one into understanding why her character just couldn't bring herself to tell the truth was one that escaped me. I kept banging my fists on any solid object close by, saying "tell her!". Perhaps that was the intention of the director, or maybe it's because I'm a male, who has had no children, and probably never will, that made it difficult to understand the intensity of a mother's grief. Either way, I found the overall experience annoying, and only felt obligated to complete this film because of my loyalty to Ms.Binoche. I empathized (and cried)at the end when the long hug took place, but still didn't understand or accept the mother's behavior.

haunting but...

[unhandyandy · 7/10 · 21 June 2020]

This is a haunting movie, but I think it could have used a tad more plot. Even Binoche's genius for ambiguous facial expressions strains to paper over deficiencies in the story.

I was intrigued to see that it was based on a Pirandello play, but "based" is too strong - it's at best inspired by "La vita che ti diedi", and from what I can tell (I'm not fluent in Italian) the movie omits most of the play's boldest psychological points.

This is an intelligent piece of cinema that will benefit from multiple viewing.

[mjfhhh · 9/10 · 11 March 2016]

Anna's house is in mourning. As the mirrors are covered and the doors a locked, an unexpected guest walks through the front door. It's Jeanne, the girlfriend of her son, who had arrived to spend the Easter with him and his family. Seeing the opportunity to take her mind of her sadness Anna embraces Jeanne with all hear heart. But as the days go by, and her son does not appear, will she be able to tell Jeanne the terrible truth?

Piero Messina – assistant director of the Italian Oscar winner Great Beauty, creates a movie full of symbolism. With every frame holding some sort of meaning, the film is beautiful and deep, like the Sicilian lake on the border of which the story takes place.

THE WAIT is quite a cinematic journey for a small film, which is basically focused on two performances. Playing with themes of resurrection, the movie unravels to us the picture of grief, and by the end it will stand before us, truly exposed, just like unveiled statue of Virgin Mary in the final scenes.

Juliette Binoche is a great performer and she has an interesting role here. Her Anna is deeply damaged but climbing to life, finding a relief in her son's girlfriend's visit. For young and charismatic Lou de Laage in the role of Jeanne this is a big step up from her previous roles of troubled teenagers and shows just how much she grew up as an actor.

Focusing on the developing friendship between the two very different women, the movie always balances on the edge, where a few words can end everything.

With its beautiful imaginary and haunting score, THE WAIT is still not an easy experience, but it has the charm of a dark fairy tale and quickly draws you in. This is an intelligent piece of cinema that will benefit from multiple viewing.

Waste of time unless you are absolutely mad about Binoche

[barev-85094 · 1/10 · 25 December 2015]

A mother unexpectedly meets her son's fiancée at a villa in Sicily and gets to know her as she waits for her son to arrive. He never does because he happens to be dead. Director: Piero Messina Stars: Juliette Binoche and a bunch of Italian unknowns.

L'attesa (The Pointless Wait) Italian film starring Juliette Binoche as mother who cannot accept that her son is dead and refuses to reveal this for two tedious hours to son's girlfriend who comes to visit hoping to join him. Shaggy dog take on Waiting for Godot. So boring that after a while even the endless closeups of Binoche's marvelous physiognomy start to grind on viewer nerves. Impressive cinematography wasted on pointless tale that could have have been told in ten minutes. Waste of time unless you are absolutely mad about Binoche, which I was until this. Viewed and put to sleep by at Venice film festival, 2015

minimalist dialogue and slow pace creates an open space into which is hung a finely wrought portrait of parental grief.

[CineMuseFilms · 8/10 · 26 June 2016]

Plot and character are the classic drivers of cinema but there are other forces of equal impact. Some films are driven more by what does not happen than what does, and photographic technique can transform inaction into deep meaning. This is the case in The Wait (2016), a film title that describes both the story's narrative arc and how it will be experienced by most viewers. Long silent close-ups that record little more than an eyebrow muscle tightening or the strands of hair on a neck are used to convey emotional power of surprising intensity.

Based entirely on the interaction between two women and the inability of one to reveal a painful truth to the other, the plot and character range is unusually sparse. The story opens with a funeral and the palpable raw grief on the face of a mother who has lost a son. Anna (Juliette Binoche) is in a deep dark place when she takes a call from beautiful young Jeanne (Lou de Laage) who asks why her son Giuseppe did not meet her at the airport. Anna invites Jeanne to wait for him at the Sicilian family villa, knowing he will never come. The pair move from a strained and awkward start to a warm friendship, all the while with Jeanne confused and Anna struggling with suppressed emotional turmoil. Anna has Giuseppe's cell phone and listens to Jeanne's desperate calls to her son, but withholding the truth gives him a tangible presence that keeps him alive and eases Anna's pain. For as long as she can gaze upon Jeanne, she can see through her dead son's eyes and share his delight in her innocence and charm.

This story rests entirely on the extraordinary ability of its two stars to convey the full gamut of emotion with total authenticity. The face of Binoche in particular is like a canvas onto which she paints every colour of the rainbow, with subtle shifts of expression that span joyful laughter to the very edge of sanity. Many viewers will find this a difficult film to watch because of the gradually escalating tension created by Anna holding back the truth from Jeanne, and this transforms the drama into a psychological thriller. It is impossible not to judge Anna or not to consider how we would handle such a situation, and this self-reflective process only heightens tensions both inside the film and within ourselves. The performances could easily have slipped into a melodrama, but instead, the minimalist dialogue and slow pace creates an open space into which is hung a finely wrought portrait of parental grief.

Must see but should be a little smaller.

[telmo-campos-matos · 5/10 · 14 July 2016]

Without any planning, in the last few days I saw 2 films starring Lou de Laâge and although with completely different characters in both films (L'attesa and Respire) I was pleased with her capacity to enter the role . Juliette Binoche is as always one of the best actresses of her generation and always make great performances. About this L'attesa I can say that although in some parts the film goes a bit too long in the suspense, the story is well written and better represented by the cast. The image plans are very good but sometimes too still. But it is a must see film. A very good work from Francesco Di Giacomo However the story is never totality told to the audience, letting one always thinking ahead.

mourning, beauty and suspense

[existentialize-86248 · 10/10 · 3 April 2016]

I've seen it as a part of Italian Cinema Festival in Lisbon, the director was there. To the end I wondered how this relatively young man could make it - bring a spectator in the intersection of sorrow, enchantment and tension and keep him there the whole film.

There was a lot of wondering in general - during and after, - a lot of associations and interpretations. The film keeps you very alive in spite of difficult theme, awaken, wanting something from the characters, wanting to be like the characters, asking questions, enjoying slow beautiful shots, colors, landscapes, soundtrack, actresses. Remembering other roles of Juliette Binoche as in "Three colors: Blue" and "Paris, je t'aime", other astonishingly beautiful Italian films like "Stealing beauty". Wishing it to resolute and stop and to continue after titles.

J.S. Foer said "humorous is the only way to tell a sad story". "L 'attesa" with very convincing vitality states that the only way to tell a sad story is beautiful.

"Your mother is odd"

[dertwonshuw-51350 · 9/10 · 9 April 2021]

I am sure the flavor of this French phrase is lost in translation to the English subtitles.

This film is about the emotional complexity of grief and the behavior it can produce in surviving loved ones.

Juliette Binoche's character could have told the girl about Giuseppe's death at any time: On the bench; At the lake; In the car; At breakfast.

Her emotional dishonesty is the heart of the movie.

Why?

The dialogue is stingy and the viewer is left to draw his or her own conclusion.

The Wait is brilliantly acted and beautifully and skillfully photographed.

Binoche is spectacular

[stevenmcallihan · 9/10 · 31 March 2024]

Many of the reviews here have lamented the ambiguous plot line and non-definitive ending.

Within the first 2 minutes I was asking myself the same thing any mother would ask - "why did my son kill himself?" If she tells her son's girlfriend right away that he's dead, she may never know.

Spoiler alert- we are never told throughout the movie that her son committed suicide or even that he's dead at all.

The answer is in a mother's admission of infidelity in her own marriage, a dinner party with arduous implications, and ultimately an unfaithful girlfriend's confession.

A raised eyebrow, a tear, lilting laughter turning to sadness. Shrewd questions. Cold awareness.

All in a mother's countenance, without a word spoken.

All to draw out the truth.

That's why "The Waiting" is occurring.

"If not for this young girl's promiscuousness, my son would be alive".

Heart wrenching.

Cinematic magic.

The Beauty and Intensity of Sadness

[tech-643-294311 · 10/10 · 26 December 2018]

There is a kind of celebration that is cathartic and without it, grief can not release itself from its prison. In the space between loss and acceptance, lie denial and the hope for a miracle, for the light to shine through the heart.

In this extraordinary period of denial, time stretches into moments of grief, anger and hope, the meeting of reality with the loss of love is undefined, is fated to be revealed but if it can not, then the actions of those frozen in that vast expanse of waiting can not be predicted.

This is calm before the storm but the storm never arrives, it is the house that creaks with the stuff of haunting but the ghosts only wander into dreams.

L'attesa (The Wait) is shot in an old Sicilian villa, it moves in lingering pauses in which the exalted photographic beauty of this extended suspension, truth attempting to surface but underwater. Binoche carries the deepening mystery in precise nuanced expression. The nails hammered into the walls to shroud mirrors, the lime annointment of olive trees bleaches the trunk bone white, and awaiting the miracle, knowing in truth is freedom, unable to see past belief and hope.

Excellent film in every respect, music, photography and direction. Resolution is unavailable as the echoes of celebration fade.