I've Loved You So Long

Last night I watched this brilliant movie for the third time. I can't actually get enough of Ms. Kristin Scott Thomas' performance in this movie. She performs as a rich and complex character in this film. Cinema fans know her from her outstanding performance in "The English Patient (1996)" for which she was nominated as the best leading actress in Academy Awards. 12 years after that performance, in 2008, she beautifully played the role of a woman, better to say a human, who came out of the jail and struggled to be accepted in the society as well as in her own family. It's not just that, the movie has some sense of mystery and little by little the story behind Juliette's, Kristin Scott Thomas', actions and behaviours unfolds itself. She has her own weaknesses, strengths, fears and sorrows. Artfully, Philippe Claudel, the director shows every little details of her changing moods and emotions. I highly recommend this movie for anyone who loves to see a good French movie with some magnificent acting.

Just had the pleasure of seeing this movie in a cinema and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

The movie touches several very sensitive subjects in a careful and a non-judging way; it left me thinking deeply about the rules of our society, and what happens if one falls through the raster; if what one has done does not fit into the view of the majority and one's actions are not compatible with the rules that society has given itself.

There are scenes that made me laugh, others leaving me absorbed in thought, all the while realising: this is life as it is, sometimes wonderful, sometimes brutal and sad.

The acting is brilliant in my view, the film lives from Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein, both seem to be made for the characters they play while the rest of the cast, even for the smallest part, seems to have been carefully picked as well. Both actors and director describe the making of the movie as a very interesting experience, something I don't doubt at all after seeing it.

If you get a chance to see the movie, do it. It's worth it.

Claudel provides a lesson for American film makers and a lasting pleasure for the audience. The cast is evenly excellent with Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein the personifications of things felt and not said to siblings. It is such a pleasure to watch actors and actresses who look like people instead of an eight by ten glossy of themselves. Serge Hazanaviciius, Laurent Grevil, Frederic Pierrot, Jean-Claude Amaud and little Lise Se'gur form a perfect framework for the two stars. With no special effects and little background music, the viewer can concentrate on the slow peeling of layer after layer of revelation. The beauty revealed at its core is the result of action, not an attempt to tie up loose ends nor a deus ex machina. Snar

Looking at Kristen Scott Thomas I thought of Julie Christie, Ingrid Bergman, Helen Mirren, Liv Ullman and a number of other actresses that managed to be transparent on the screen. Transparent in the best sense of the word, meaning we could actually see the invisible. Two sisters, a husband, two adopted Asian girls and a past, a recent past an overwhelming past painted black but with a white coat of compassion. Fame novelist turned film director Philip Claudel's debut is surprising to say the least.His assured hand and sensibility makes me want to see his next opus with a certain amount of trepidation. Scott Thomas's performance is among the very best I've seen all year.

This movie succeeds in presenting believable characters through life-like dialogs and superior acting. Despite its heavy emotional load, it never degrades into a tear-jerker. Perhaps it makes a difference whether you are a parent yourself as a viewer, I could not tell, but after returning home, I did feel like giving the kids a loving cuddle. This movie will linger for a while in my mind. It seems to me that Philippe Claudel is not just a very observing novelist, but also a good director, capable of a lot of empathy with the human condition. Anyone looking for light entertainment should stay out of the movie theater where this movie is playing, but if you are interested in a subtle emphatic presentation of characters, you should not miss this.