Directed by Phillippe Claudel
Kristin Scott Thomas is on the screen for almost every minute of writer/director Phillippe Claudel’s French film about recovering lives that have been shattered by extreme trauma. She is the mysteriously fragile Juliette, an elegant woman in her forties who has just been released after being in prison for 15 years. She was a doctor before her incarceration but after years of institutionalisation, she emerges as a nervous chain-smoking woman, cautious of everything around her. Moving in with her younger sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), Lea’s husband Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), their two adopted Vietnamese daughters and Luc’s elderly father, Juliette takes tentative steps at making some sort of life for herself.
The reason for Juliette’s imprisonment casts a shadow over everyone, even though Juliette seems to be the most at peace with whatever horrible crime it was that demanded such a long prison term. I won’t give the plot-spoiler as the film is really a personal drama about the two sisters trying to resurrect their relationship and heal old wounds in order to move on with their lives. Juliette’s angry parents excommunicated her from the family and as a result, Lea has little memory of her sister at all. It is a slow process with many quirks about human nature surfacing at unlikely moments. The result is an extremely rewarding journey as Juliette reawakens her intimacy with the world.
Kristen Scott Thomas has just won the European Film Award for Best Actress and you can’t help but be moved by her performance. I’ve Loved You So Long is part of the Perth International Arts Festival and screens at Somerville 19-25 January and at The Pines 26 Jan – 1 Feb. Meet up with some friends for a picnic before the 8.30pm film commencement, but don’t forget to get tickets at BOCS beforehand.
Lezly Herbert
