É Tempo de Amar

I didn't have a lot of expectations about this one but I somehow knew I had to watch this one while in Belgium. So it exceeded those few I had, multiple times. The main character is a woman who, like all of us, is desperate for being loved; she is broken by war and its aftermath; she makes her ends meet and takes basic care of her little boy, or does she? Then she meets François, skillfully played by Vincent Lacoste, and then this story of several generations is gradually revealed to the viewer with all its subtleties and complexities. When the film ended, it took me a while to return to the world, to those rainy streets of Brussels. The world that still chooses to be at war, and maim itself, and hurt itself.

.... which grabbed me within seconds the truck with the "Poules à Boches" painted on the front denoting girls who had had "biblical intercourse" with the wartime occupiers and were (head)shaved and humiliated when it all finished ... awesome real B&W historical footage

The main protagonist in the film a 35 year old woman is the mother of a child conceived with a German officer so she has to live in a different town in Brittany ; then meets an effete rich bourgeois Parisian PhD student and they click and get married. She treats her boy badly resenting him; but treats her husband very well; who turns out is a homosexual trying to normalize his ways to fit in with 1940s France ... Many other elements happen here GIs come into the picture they the couple get a job running a night-club for GI's and some kind of menage-à-trois might or might not happen

The son wants to know quite rightly who his father was and more to the point whether he is still of this world

The entire film is very poignant social history of a country trying to rise from its ashes and a study of the mores of the time. The acting from Anaïs Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste is excellent throughout. The title Le Temps D'Aimer A Time To Love not sure why they mistranslate titles for reasons unknown really covers what happens here; love and unlove in its many forms; some elements we expected to see answered others were but all in all there is an internal logic to this film; it is very touching and quite beautiful; and also I repeat a slice of social history in that country

Recommended viewing.

"All I know is I'm not happy without you."-François Delambre

Written and directed by Katell Quillévéré, this is art house film is at once beautiful and sad. The film begins with surprisingly realistic black and white footage (maybe it is real?) of the public shaming of multiple French women who slept with Nazi soldiers during the German occupation of France. The women are depicted as being smeared with dirt, having their heads shaved, stripped and water hosed, etc. Our main protagonist is one of these women. She had a self confessed "brief" relationship with a German soldier and was left pregnant and alone after the war. Having been thrown out of her family home, she goes to the seaside town of Brittany where she works as a waitress to support her and her son Daniel. It is there that she meets François, a rich Parisian PhD student who wants to be a geologist. The two hit it off and eventually marry...but right from the beginning there is something off about François, who turns out to be a homosexual.

Both with secrets to hide from society, the two agree to stay married and move to Paris where they manage a bar/club frequented by American GIs while François works on his thesis.

The sets and backdrops were wonderful with some great cinematography and acting particularly by our two leads, who play these curiously grey characters. Anaïs Demoustier plays Madeleine Delambre, who is sometimes beautiful and other times quite ugly, especially when she is being a terrible mother to her son Daniel. That is one of the films true saving graces, I thought, the way François treated Daniel. He was patient and kind, they way a real father would be...and the way Madeleine was not.

And while I will never understand the public bathroom situation for homosexual males, I do understand the hidden lifestyle and empathize with the shame, pain and suffering.

This film really did have some lovely moments, but was overall a very tragic story that could potentially serve as a cautionary tale. The final train scene was pretty heartbreaking and left me with its overwhelming sadness. I ache for these characters. Would I recommend the film? Maybe to a niche art house type patron, to the common Joe...maybe not. Also, as a woman I found the opening footage very disturbing and difficult to watch. I am not in denial that it happened, I am just found the public shaming hard to stomach.

My review is based on watching this film in it's original French language with English subtitles.

Beginning with a strong premise, Along Came Love promises a complicated and complex story showing how two lives of complete strangers can get intertwined while exploring their past and their future. Unfortunately new twists and turns show up constantly in this picture without solving or finishing the old ones, which resulted in me feeling a bit "robbed" in the end, because the whole narrative just kind of fizzled out without a climax. However my biggest issue was the pace of the film - it felt lengthy and some scenes were unnecessarily prolonged while others could have been more detailed. I would best describe Along Came Love as a film that was given a solid base for its story and a run time that needed to be filled - which sadly resulted in just a sequence of various scenes with no proper buildup. Even though it still had some good qualities (music score, cinematography...) and overall I would still classify this film as an easily watchable, for me it just was not strong or gripping enough to have my full attention.

No pun intended - and no the song is not in the movie. That said ... I think it is more than fitting considering the relationship between our main characters - but also others (involved) with them. Sometimes we can't exactly be who we want to be. Or do the things we want to do. Society - it's more than a shame.

But there is also something romantic about this - even when it seems to get depraved. Now this will not be for everyone - there is depiction of love (not explicitly mind you) ... that you may not agree with. But it is about understanding that not everyone has the same definition of love. Or who they love - sometimes you love the wrong person ... or have more love to give ... well I am not making it clearer or the case for our main male character ... but it is not just about him. It is about the pain and sorrow for everyone ... and the lack of patience to understand each other ... add to that the pressure from outside ... and it seems like a situation that is not winnable ...but is it?