Kristen Scott-Thomas provides an extremely nuanced Golden-Globe nominated performance in the French pic 'I've Loved You So Long' that was mostly ignored this past Fall as people got the false impression from the title that this was yet another stuffy dramance; this is, in fact, a subtly tense mystery superbly told.
It's certainly not a mystery film in the traditional sense, it's more what than why or who, and is centered around a character with a past that drives the film. It is a past that is slowly introduced until the final reveal is expertly conveyed during the final emotional wham-bam moments of the climax.
It's methodically paced, but never boring as the film slowly lures you in; by fifteen minutes in, if you're not extremely curious as to what sins were in our heroine's past then I'll refund your money (good luck tracking me down however).
The story is deceptively simple: we meet middle-aged Juliette (Scott-Thomas) who has recently been released from prison after fifteen years. With no real choice, she moves in with her younger sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), husband (Serge Hazanavicius) and their two children until she can incorporate herself back into any real semblance of life including a job so she can support herself.
A fifteen-year sentence holds some heavy questions and while Lea and her understandably worried husband knows the crime that happened, they don't know why and only small aspects of her past get trickled out at a time - they learn as we learn.
The atmosphere is thick with ill-ease and conversations are expectedly awkward between Juliette and her sister, indeed between Juliette and anybody, and it doesn't help that Juliette has put up a wall between herself and almost everybody around her.
She, at first, just seems to want to survive - looking for a job, meeting with her parole officer - but ultimately, when Lea stumbles upon some clues, Juliette realizes that providing some answers might provide some therapeutic closure. I'm not sure how the film would have worked with a lesser actress as this was a fine line performance to pull off.
Either the actress could have become too morose to be likeable or interesting or she could just have easily gone the opposite route and fallen into calculating dramatics.
But Thomas nails the subtlety required of the role and the slow transformation from restraint to the eventual emotional equivalent of a dam bursting. While the majority of the film rests on Thomas's shoulders, the effectiveness of the film as a whole is also due to the rest of the supporting cast who provide a depth and realism to their characters that make the world feel fully-realized.
The film is presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen release and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track with English subtitles. An English 5.1 track with Kristine Scott Thomas also providing her voice for this dub is also included.
Just a few special features are included: Deleted Scenes with optional commentary from Director Claudel and the film's theatrical trailer as well as trailers for other Sony pics.
It may still be a pic that will only appeal to the arthouse crowds but at the very least, don't expect this to be a run-of-the-mill romance as the title suggests; the title makes sense upon viewing but could be easily misinterpreted.
This is an understated but powerful film driven by Kristen Scott Thomas's best performance. If you consider yourself a fan of human drama at it's most instinctive, this comes highly recommended.
I've Loved You So Long is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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