Movies: I've love you so long * * * *
(12A, limited release)
Kristin Scott Thomas'S elegant reserve has surely never been put to better effect than in this intelligent and beautifully paced drama from first-time director Philippe Claudel. Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, to give it its original title, examines the themes of crime, punishment, judgement and redemption through the story of a middle-aged woman recently released from prison.
We first meet Juliette Fontaine (Scott Thomas) when she's collected from Nancy train station by her sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein). The two women haven't seen each other in 15 years, and though we don't initially find out why Juliette was incarcerated, we soon discover it was for the murder of her six-year-old son.
In the aftermath of that event Juliette's parents renounced her, but her little sister Lea secretly kept her in her heart and wants now to help her rehabilitate. That, though, won't be easy. Lea's husband Luc isn't exactly ecstatic about the idea of Juliette living with them and their two adopted Vietnamese children -- Lea didn't have kids herself for fear Juliette's malaise was hereditary.
An even bigger problem, though, is Juliette's almost catatonic remoteness. Having been abandoned by the world she finds it practically impossible to trust or rely on anyone, and Lea's persistence is often met with anger or indifference.
In fact it's Luc's father, a jovial, bookish old man, who's been left speechless by a stroke, whom Juliette is initially drawn to, as well as Lea's adopted daughters. It's the children and the silent old man who gradually thaw her heart.
Scott Thomas has lived in Paris for many years, and is very comfortable working in French. She's given the stiff task here of carrying her damaged character through a considerable arc, and she succeeds brilliantly, using her body and wounded beauty to convey Juliette's grief and universal distrust. Philippe Claudel handles his own script with skill and Elas Zylberstein gives a fine performance as the well-meaning sister. A public swimming pool provides a kind of neutral space, a psychological soup, in which the sisters begin to freely talk, and the truth of Juliette's story is slowly and movingly revealed. n
