Christopher SoallIl y a longstemps que je t'aime
December 14th 2008 14:27
I have long imagined Sunday afternoons should idealically be spent at the Cinema watching arthouse films. There is something bohemian or intellectual or atmospheric about it that inspires me but I haven't actually ever done it before today. I feel like it's the first sunday I've actually lived in the right way.
Today or Aujourd'hui perhaps I should say in the spirit of the film I just saw at the Nova Cinema. I saw a beautiful french film called "Il y a longstemps que je t'aime" or "I have loved you so long" en anglais. After the film there was a question and answer session with the director and one of the actors. I found this quite a fascinating opportunity to gain a deeper insight into film making. It was quite surreal to have the director and actor right there bringing you outside of the world you were just immersed in and giving you deeper insight into it by talking about how it was created at the same time.
The film was carried by the performances of the central characters. They distracted you from a rather convoluted plot which didn't quite hold up to close scrutiny but certainly made you think. It was the developement and resolution of the emotional relationships that was important anyhow not the actual plot details. Much is really more developed in your own imagination as the past that haunts the characters present and future is never fully uncovered. Much stays buried in a dusty corner because more importance is placed on where misunderstandings and trauma of the past has got the character, what it has lost them and what they have to repair than on what actually caused it all.
We get to know the main character Juliette under a shadow of doubt about what she has done in the past to have landed her in this future. However her character makes her crime not seem to add up so there is not quite so much suspense over whether she is guilty or innocent as there is always the feeling that in order for her to make sense she can't have done what she is supposed to.
The main focus is her relationship with her sister. The opening scene gives the finest overview of their awkward relationship. As they hug briefly and uncomfortably with more embrace coming from the sisters side. She has accepted her sister or is trying to yet really she has just welcomed back the sister she knew before the events that stole her sister away to 15 years jail. She evades anything that touches on the 15 years written on her sisters face that she really needs to come to terms with in order to reestablish their relationship because these 15 years have fashioned the sister now in front of her into what she is in the present. She is trying to just engage with the person she remembers from the past.
As the Film progresses Juliette starts to rebuild a life and to step out from behind the shadow of what she is supposed to have done. The crime subjects her to judgement and prejudice ultimately we discover it is her own guilt that has trapped her in muteness preventing her from saying what could have exonerated her in other peoples minds.
I found this film on the level of investigating human relationships and existance quite fascinating and moving. I found a few details about the plot rather inconsistant and flimsy but not memorable for what stays in your mind is the characters and the resolution of their emotional relationships. It is true to life and there is something in it for an universal audience to relate to.
Today or Aujourd'hui perhaps I should say in the spirit of the film I just saw at the Nova Cinema. I saw a beautiful french film called "Il y a longstemps que je t'aime" or "I have loved you so long" en anglais. After the film there was a question and answer session with the director and one of the actors. I found this quite a fascinating opportunity to gain a deeper insight into film making. It was quite surreal to have the director and actor right there bringing you outside of the world you were just immersed in and giving you deeper insight into it by talking about how it was created at the same time.
The film was carried by the performances of the central characters. They distracted you from a rather convoluted plot which didn't quite hold up to close scrutiny but certainly made you think. It was the developement and resolution of the emotional relationships that was important anyhow not the actual plot details. Much is really more developed in your own imagination as the past that haunts the characters present and future is never fully uncovered. Much stays buried in a dusty corner because more importance is placed on where misunderstandings and trauma of the past has got the character, what it has lost them and what they have to repair than on what actually caused it all.
We get to know the main character Juliette under a shadow of doubt about what she has done in the past to have landed her in this future. However her character makes her crime not seem to add up so there is not quite so much suspense over whether she is guilty or innocent as there is always the feeling that in order for her to make sense she can't have done what she is supposed to.
The main focus is her relationship with her sister. The opening scene gives the finest overview of their awkward relationship. As they hug briefly and uncomfortably with more embrace coming from the sisters side. She has accepted her sister or is trying to yet really she has just welcomed back the sister she knew before the events that stole her sister away to 15 years jail. She evades anything that touches on the 15 years written on her sisters face that she really needs to come to terms with in order to reestablish their relationship because these 15 years have fashioned the sister now in front of her into what she is in the present. She is trying to just engage with the person she remembers from the past.
As the Film progresses Juliette starts to rebuild a life and to step out from behind the shadow of what she is supposed to have done. The crime subjects her to judgement and prejudice ultimately we discover it is her own guilt that has trapped her in muteness preventing her from saying what could have exonerated her in other peoples minds.
I found this film on the level of investigating human relationships and existance quite fascinating and moving. I found a few details about the plot rather inconsistant and flimsy but not memorable for what stays in your mind is the characters and the resolution of their emotional relationships. It is true to life and there is something in it for an universal audience to relate to.
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