This was the final film of CIFF 2022, and helped the fortnight end on a high note. I wouldn't have wanted to miss the last film of the festival no matter what, but this was already high on my list as it starred one of the all time greats Juliette Binoche.
For me, this was a much better vehicle than Between Two worlds from about ten days prior. She plays Sara, middle aged and in an honest, sensual, healthy relationship with Jean. All is going well until her ex Francois comes back into the frey. He has offered Jean a job, or more specifically a partnership in a sports management enterprise. So things are getting a bit too close for comfort, for all involved.
Sara at first avoids the situation, admitting that 'when you love someone it never fully goes away', but when she finally comes face to face with Francois, the feelings come rushing back and it is too much to bear. There is a feeling of what could have been between them, and it is mutual.. although Francois is more focused on the physical side. Jean becomes suspicious of Sara. All this culminates in a wonderfully acted scene of arguing between the two when they pour their hearts out to eachother. It was aggressive, but in the right way, the aggression of so much at stake and feeling exposed beyond comfort.
This shows a very convincing love triangle of 3 middle aged people, the age aspect i liked very much. I appreciated that Jean and Sara are mature enough to admit it's not a simple situation. With younger people, which is often the way in this kind of story, there would be less baggage and I imagine less emotional engagement between them, and therefore with the audience. I also thought it was realistic how the triangle was mostly between two main characters with the third, the one that causes the issues, being a more minor role on screen. I imagine this is how it would happen in real life, sometimes just a fleeting moment throws years of life together under new scrutiny.
This is a very well realised work. It felt so real that it put me in mind of some of the great strained romances in films, not least the Before trilogy, which has long been the yardstick.
The success of something like this comes down so much to the performances, Vincent Lindon is great as Jean, but to borrow a quote from myself talking about Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn; Juliette Binoche 'consistently finds the perfect emotional tone scene after scene'. She really is a marvel of an actor, just her work on Michael Haneke's Hidden and Code Unknown alone is enough to put her in the top 10 all time for my money.
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