Customer Reviews

I've Loved You So Long

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think I'd call this a perfect gray day movie and I suggest seeing it with someone who's on your same wave length because, once it's over, you're going to want to talk about it and, perhaps, piece together the parts of the story that were merely alluded to.

Kristin Scott Thomas, in a quietly intense, brilliantly calibrated performance, plays a woman just freed after 15 years in prison for murder. Until she can establish a new life, she is to move in with the sister who never came to visit her in all those years and the sister's family--a worried husband, two young adopted daughters and the husband's father, a stroke victim who can no longer talk. Soon a parole officer who dreams of visiting the Orinoco and a university colleague of the sister, who once taught in a prison, assume key roles as well. All these characters, even the little kids, come off as exceptionally real and interesting people.

This is one of those movies that reveals itself slowly and stays with you for a long time. It plays on an emotional level that reminds me somewhat of "Under the Sand," the Charlotte Rampling movie about the woman whose husband went for a swim and was never seen again. (Odd, kind of, that both are French movies that star English actresses who've lived most of their adult lives in France.)

This is an excellent film. But, not just because it is smartly written, splendidly acted, and directed with just the right touch so as to make you feel as if you are watching life unfold in the lives of people who would be shocked to find you there, uninvited. It is also an excellent film because it takes up important subjects like forgiveness, healing, courage, and grace. It gets at the ironic beauty and pain of life without being heavy-handed and melodramatic. I went to see this film three times...as I don't speak French, I spent the first screening reading it. The second time I watched the sheer nakedness of the performances. The third time, I was able to catch the nuances of its visual storytelling. At no point in these screenings was I bored. Nor did I feel I was seeing the same moments repeated. This film deserves that kind of attention.

While I've never been such a Philistine as to decline to see a film because it is in an unknown language and I'd have to read the subtitles, there is usually a sense of emotional distance when you have to read the words yourself. In the case of I've Loved You So Long, I felt no such distance. Indeed, this is the first time I've cried in a movie since... I don't know when. Sure, I am a callous bastard, but I often find myself moved by a film, only, rarely do I find myself as moved as I was by this one.

I've Loved You So Long focuses on the story of Juliette Fontaine coming from prison to live with her sister, who was a young adolescent when she was incarcerated. The tensions of living with an extended family are exacerbated by Juliette's personality, which it is accepted is altered by her time in gaol. Philippe Claudel's story is beautifully structured to release just as much information as is necessary to keep you interested, while retaining just enough mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I have never seen a French film that I haven't liked, but I have also never seen a French film of this calibre. It is an outstanding piece of storytelling, full of pathos and charm.

"I've Loved You So Long" is a French-language movie that stars Kristin Scott Thomas as a woman haunted by her past. Having served prison time for 15 years for murder, Juliette Fontaine is released on parole and goes to live with her younger sister, Lea [Elsa Zylberstein] who was only a teenager when Juliette was sent to prison. Juliette finds it awkward reconnecting with people, and it's especially hard as Lea is married and has two adopted Vietnamese daughters, and a father-in-law who is recovering from a stroke. Things are made more difficult by Lea's husband Michel who can't reconcile with Juliette's living with them, considering the crime she committed. I won't give too much of the plot away, as this is a movie that unfolds slowly and rewards the patient viewer with all the necessary information in good time.

The plot may seem slow in revealing the details one wishes to know, such as the unspeakable crime Juliette has committed and why she is such a tormented, distant soul, but this actually worked for me as Juliette's character is fully- developed here and the viewer is rewarded with one of the most poignant and nuanced performance by an actress. Kristin Scott-Thomas is remarkable in this movie, and her French is excellent [there is also an English audio option in which she actually does the dubbing for her part]. Her portrayal of a fragile and tormented woman who is haunted by her past and struggling to go on with her life on a daily basis is nothing short of amazing. She truly deserved the Golden Globe nomination for her performance. Elsa Zylberstein is also very credible as lea, Juliette's compassionate younger sister who tries her best to penetrate the wall of silence Juliette has erected around her. The supporting cast also does a good job - the tortured parole officer who pines for his ex-wife and kids, the college lecturer who is romantically interested in Juliette and a few others - I thought the cast did a credible job in holding the film together and elevating it above another melodrama.

This is a depressing movie and definitely one that leaves you pondering on many important life issues - choices, regrets, relationships and many more. But, I feel more enlightened for having watched it, and would recommend it to anyone who is keen on human dramas with substance.

This is the story of a woman who, after serving a 15 year prison sentence for being convicted of a murder she did not contest, returns to live with her sister and her sister's family.

The movie suggests that some rewards can be found in continuing to love those who earned your love in the past, long after everyone else has stopped loving them - especially if they are accused of allegations that are never fully proven or explained. The acting is wonderful. The settings and cinematography are welcoming. The pacing and unfolding mysteries are well-matched together.

The film:

I don't want to spoil this film for you, as a great deal of enjoyment is to be had in the slow unfolding of its characters' lives to the viewer. So, in the briefest terms possible, it is about a French woman who is returning to society after a stay in prison. Through the course of the film we see the main character Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) attempt to reintegrate herself into the world of her sister and her sister's family.

It's hard to find the superlatives for Kristin Scott Thomas' work here. Simply put, she is an actor of the highest rank. She completely inhabits her character, and gives us exactly what we need to have a look into the character's soul, but without bludgeoning us over the head with obviousness, as some actors are wont to do. Every facial muscle is in her control, giving us slight twitches and smiles, movements of eyelids, all of the cues we would see in a real person of our acquaintance, that we would use to clue us in to their internal state.

Equally good is the writing. Instead of bald-faced expository scenes, we are given the story in the sort of real conversational threads that we might be presented with if we were a fly on the wall, not a stupid audience member being instructed. There is no narration, no summary, just real scenes, as if we were witnessing them in real life. This was very refreshing, when so many films deign to hold the viewer's hand through the entire run time.

In concert, the acting, the writing, and the directing/cinematography create what is called "cinema verite." Nothing pulls you out of the reality of the portrait we are given of the character. It is utterly absorbing, and the desire to find out everything easily propels the viewer through the 1:50 teleplay.

The Blu-Ray:

Sony has presented us with a video transfer that, at first, I thought was shot on video. The reason I thought this was that there was such clarity of detail and dimensionality to the picture that it couldn't be from celluloid. In fact, this movie was shot on film. A very slight but persistent grain structure is evident upon closer inspection, and it is very nice that they did not slather the image with digital noise reduction, but instead left it the way it is.

Detail starts out stunning, and generally holds up throughout the film. This is a movie with a lot of close ups of faces and hands, and it really makes you look at people differently - so many movies are spit-shined, air-brushed, and stars are made up to within an inch of their lives. Here, we see every wrinkle, vein, sinew, knuckle, and dark circle under an eye. It is perhaps a little jarring at first, but eventually I was reminded that this, in fact, is how real people look. This realism adds to the aforementioned "you are there" feeling.

There are a few scenes which get a tiny bit soft, but they are few and far between. Overall, this is a sterling HD presentation. The depth and clarity of the image help the process of drawing the viewer in - complementing an amazing performance to a tee.

Audio is unspectacular, but this is of course and extremely dialogue-driven film. French and English dubs are available, with the English dub featuring Thomas' vocal work, in a nice touch. I would recommend the French track with subtitles, though, since almost the entire film is acted in French, including all of Thomas' lines. Extras include a few deleted scenes.

*******

So in the end, I suppose the questions are two: should you see this film? I would say that unreservedly, anyone who is a fan of acting, art, performance, drama, and realistic character portraits of human beings should see this film. If you want explosions and one-liners, you might be better served by a Nicolas Cage vehicle.

The other question is: should you own it? That's a bit thornier. After you've seen it once, you know the backstory of the main character, and thus a fair amount of your drive to see the film has been satisfied. Why watch it again?

Fans of Kristin Scott Thomas, or of truly great acting performances in general, should have this on their shelf. This is a two hour master class, pressed onto a disc.

Everyone else might benefit more from a rental. The subject matter is a bit of a downer, although there is a fair amount of bittersweet uplift by the end. It's not the kind of thing you'll pop in on a rainy day to liven things up.

Philippe Claudel is brilliant! His insight into women, relationships, life and love is accurate, artful and rich. I loved the different themes that weave easily through this masterpiece, like confinement and prison; choices and consequences; things we easily miss in life; joy and hope even in grief; the past, the future and the power of the now.

There were a number of poignant one liners that expressed far more than the words themselves, like Michel's, 'Sometimes books have helped me more than people', or Juliette's, 'I wanted to go to prison.'

The close up facial shots and careful symbolism throughout the movie worked wonderfully to make it far more experiential than intellectual. A friend who saw it with me said, 'I don't know what to think or say because I'm feeling so much.' Beautiful leaden windows remind Juliette of more sinister prison bars. A chain spanning the floors of the residence symbolizes prisons at many levels, even at home. Rain falling on a sunlit window symbolize with alluring simplicity life and love beckoning - who can refuse?

I think this is without doubt the most impacting movie I've ever seen. Granted it is slow moving, but the themes it deals with are themselves timeless and slow moving; they are not answerable to a fast paced world.

This review will have spoilers, so you have been alerted!

I loved this movie until the very end, found it moving, real, etc., which I don't often do in French movies. Then I started thinking: HOW could nobody know about her son's illness? HOW could her husband have testified against her? HOW could her sister's friends, and her sister not have read about the case in the papers...so the movie does not stand up under even the lightest of scrutinies. Until I reached that realization, it was great. Kristen Scott Thomas is brilliant, absolutely, as are some of the other actors, but the story, so earnest, actually is hollow and ultimately silly.

Kristin Scott Thomas plays Juliette Fontaine, a British woman whose family relocated to France when she was a child. She has been away, and her younger sister, Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), picks her up at the airport. Where Juliette has been and why she has been away for so long are revealed gradually, resulting in an almost mystery-like tension. However, even if you already know pieces of this "mystery," the tension is still palpable, although my review won't reveal any additional details.

What I enjoyed about "I've Loved You So Long" is the circuitous path this French film takes. Just when I thought I had guessed where it would go next, it zigged and zagged and ended up someplace else completely. I also loved the complex character portrayed by Scott Thomas. Juliette is a catalog of contrariness - she's drab yet luminous, cool yet simmering with emotions, angry yet hurt and vulnerable. She's complex, which is something we don't see often enough in movies, and Scott Thomas plays her masterfully. In lesser hands, Juliette would come across as simply stubborn and aloof, but we can see more beneath this hard exterior long before Scott Thomas makes it overt. She won several awards for her work, and she should have received an Academy Award nomination as well (her performance was far better than Angelina Jolie in "The Changeling"). Her Juliette arguably is the highlight of her career, even better than her work in "The English Patient."

The setting for the film is also inspired. Rather than filming in Paris or sunny Southern France, "I've Loved You So Long" takes place in gloomier Northern France, near the city of Nancy. The cinematography is pitch perfect throughout without being too obvious. The rain-soaked and dreary days correspond perfectly to Juliette's drab clothing color palette (she dresses like a depressed secretary) to convey a strong environment for the character to inhabit. Finally, I appreciated that "I've Loved You So Long" is essentially an old-fashioned tear-jerker, yet it aspires to be more. And it succeeds. The emotional scenes aren't meant to simply wring a tear from the audience but also to make us think. The film tackles difficult issues involving family and loyalty, but it isn't afraid to be a bit cerebral and even a tad sexy at times.

If you want to see a truly remarkable performance by a great actress, view this film. Just concentrate on Scott Thomas. Watch her face, her mouth, her hands, the wrinkles in her forehead. She does not have lots of dialogue in this film but she doesn't need it. She can convey much just with a glance.
The film may seem a bit slow at times and don't ask too many questions about the details of the plot, just concentrate on the acting and you will be richly rewarded.