DVD Review of I've Loved You So Long
Child-Killer Kristin Scott Thomas Is Released from Prison
It's not a common plot - a female character, recently released from prison or rehab tries to reintegrate herself into her family and society only to find she's forever changed. But it has been done - and done well in films like SherryBaby with Maggie Gyllenhaal and more recently, Anne Hathaway’s Rachel Getting Married.
Nonetheless, I’ve Loved You So Long is quite different. Devoid of histrionics and melodrama, it tackles familial dysfunction and societal mistrust with masterful subtlety.
Meet Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas)
Writer and first-time director Philippe Claudel does an exceptional job at the helm of the two-time Golden Globe-nominated French film I’ve Loved You So Long. Deriving its title from the classic French lullaby “Il y a longtemps que je t’aime,” this movie centers around Juliette Fontaine, played beautifully by Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient). Fresh from a 15-year prison sentence for having murdered her own six-year-old son, Juliette appears haggard and cold, and her demeanor doesn’t change much when awkwardly reunited with her estranged sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein).
Life on the Outside
Léa’s husband Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), considering the safety of their own two adopted Vietnamese children, has serious reservations about letting Juliette live with them temporarily, but Léa insists. Juliette’s parole officer Capitaine Fauré (Frédéric Pierrot), having been a corrections officer for years, can empathize with her difficult reintegration into society. Still, others, particularly potential employers, greet her with disgust, mistrust at the very least. Eventually, though, she lets her guard down long enough to be accepted by her family, to find employment, and even to entertain the notion of a love interest in Léa’s colleague Michel (Laurent Grévill). Still, the question looms: Why did she do it?
Prison Bars
This film touches on an intriguing phenomenon so well depicted in The Shawshank Redemption, which is a former prisoner’s inability to exist in a world outside the prison walls. The incarcerated apparently grow dependent on those walls, thrive on their own solitude, and continue to see bars (in some form) long after their release. Thomas paints this portrait for the viewer with the most delicate brushstrokes. She, for instance, continually withdraws to solitude by spending much of her screen-time with Luc’s mute father Papy Paul (Jean-Claude Arnaud), and her silent, icy disaffection subconsciously erects bars to safeguard her vulnerability.
Flawed Film, or Not?
As the anti-heroine, Thomas, indeed, gives a career-defining performance, but the film as a whole seems flawed. In short, its pace is glacial. To a casual filmgoer, nothing of any gross significance happens, and one must sit through nearly two hours of inaction to learn (in the final scene, of course) why Juliette committed that heinous crime. However, in its defense, much is occurring beneath the surface. The audience is privy to an emotional journey to redemption, to the inner workings of a fragile psyche, and to the nuances involved in healing familial wounds.
That this film is French will undoubtedly scare off some viewers, and this is most unfortunate because there’s nothing foreign about this movie. Its themes and messages are universal.
I've Loved You So Long Cover Art
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Film & TV
Latest Articles