Three Days and a Life

Summary

Based on a remarkable novel by Pierre Lemaitre (also the film's screenwriter), Three Days and a Life is a kind of moral essay (in the best sense) on the scope of a tragic incident (plus others of varying severity and characteristics), chance and the passage of time on the destiny of a twelve-year-old boy.

Review

Antoine, a 12-year-old boy who lives in a small town in the Belgian Ardennes, stars in a tragic event whose shadow will be projected over several years of his life.

On each of the days of the title this and two other very dissimilar events occur, but strangely they will operate together on the fate of the protagonist (whom the action takes up several years later) and the knowledge of the truth.

Based on a remarkable novel by Pierre Lemaitre (also the film's screenwriter), Three Days and a Life is a kind of moral essay (in the best sense) about the scope of a specific incident (plus the other two, actually), chance and the passage of time on the destiny of a person and their personal ties.

With a town and a forest (a scenario that would later proliferate in the French and Belgian police), Nicolas Boukhrief's film is more of a drama than a thriller. Or rather: the success and the disturbing thing about this story is the psychology of a protagonist organized in such a way that both territories can alternate but not overlap. There is an asordinate daily life in that battered community (in more ways than one) to which Antoine is reintegrated without problems. Rob's serene soundtrack helps remarkably define that mood.

The performances of Jeremy Senez as the child Antoine, Pablo Pauly as the adult Antoine and Sandrine Bonnaire as a mother capable of expressing a thousand emotions just with her expressions and her silences are highlighted.

The cinematography is gorgeous and the movie has a great choice of music, scenes are filmed in dynamic shots that are very much character focused.

The story is filled with tention, and some great pieces of dialogue, pacing sometimes feels a bit odd as the movie skips large periods of time however the scenes we did see all serve a purpose.

I suffered 25 minutes of this unique junk. If I write what I really think of what MUST happen to EVERYONE in EVERY way involved in this film, I would be banned for ever from imdb.

All the elements are there, the plot, the acting, the set, the atmosphere... But the pace is uneven, it lags at times and then suddenly, many years pass or important things happen in a second and, mostly, out of the view.

The time passes and I keep waiting for the mistery to unravel or the conflict to arise, but they never do, and since all the cards are laid on the table from the get go, there's no big reveal or twist at the end to reward the audience's patience .

It has some silly, but distracting, errors, such as people looking exactly the same way they looked fifteen years ago, or the supermarket cashier and the police officer that look the same as they did a decade ago, and are expecting their first child, like it had been 3 years since the events, not 15!

Furthermore, almost everyone made some quite questionable decisions, that are never fully explained.

Love French cinema, especially the noir thrillers, so I thought this movie would be right up my alley, but I was dissapointed.

If you are looking for something different that the regular Netflix stuff, you will be drawn into a incredible story. I did not read the book so I did not have any expectation. The acting is spot on, beautiful shooting of Belgium countryside and deep storyline that turns unexpected. I love it !