A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.
Countries:
FR
Languages:
English, French, German
Runtime:
2hrs 31min
Status:
Released
Release date:
2023-08-23
Release format:
Streaming
— Dec 21, 2023
I just finished watching this, and while I expect I will want to watch it a few more times to make sure, for now it has leaped provisionally into the ranks of my top 10 movies ever (and I have been watching movies for almost 40 years). All of the main actors gave standout performances - Sandra Huller in particular I had never seen but was just brilliant, even though she was almost every scene, often in close-up. The score was brilliant. And crucially the screenplay was never less than totally engaging throughout. Somehow, while the whole film was clearly crafted meticulously, the dialogue managed to feel much more true to life than any script I can remember.
If you don't like talky subtitled middle class movies where "nothing happens" and there are few characters you can identify with, clearly you won't like this (but if you knew you were like that why go to this movie in the first place?). I also have to acknowledge that it is not subtle about hammering home its focus on ambiguity and interpretation, which it approaches through language, through a courtroom drama, through a failing marriage...
But what it delivers, it delivers in spades - a compelling study of the desire for and impossibility of narrative closure which time and again had me feeling as if I would finally be comfortable knowing where I "stood" only to have the rug yanked out from under my feet once again. I could have discussed how it made me think and feel for hours after, and I can't wait to watch it again and see if my impressions of it and of the people and their stories change again on second viewing...