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Kristin Scott Thomas is brilliant as Juliette, freed from prison after serving 15 years. Enigmatic, reserved, yet ready to re-enter life cautiously, Juliette moves in with her younger sister, Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), a literature professor, and the latter's husband Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), who worries about allowing Juliette into a home with two young children (related to the reason she was convicted in the first place). Also in the house is Juliette and Lea's father (Jean-Claude Arnaud), mute from illness. Writer-director Philippe Claudel slowly reveals details about the nature of Juliette's crime as she takes a job in a hospital records department and is wooed by a colleague. Other forces in Juliette's life--people asking questions, a visit to her dementia-suffering mother, tensions between her and Lea--slowly tease out the mystery behind her actions and takes viewers to a conclusion that adds an element of surprise but ties things up too tidily. Claudel cultivates an aura of naturalism and no-frills storytelling that allows dramatic developments and revelations to unfold easily. The film borders a bit on soap opera, but the grace and intelligence of Thomas' performance, offset by Zylberstein's more emotional work, is never less than compelling. --Tom Keogh
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended,
By Gabriele LeClaire "Gabi LeClaire" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: I've Loved You So Long (DVD)
This French-subtitled feature just aired on TVOntario. The Toronto Starweek tv guide promoted the story as "a world-weary woman tries to reconnect with her estranged sister" starring British (and impressively bilingual) Kristin Scott Thomas, proving herself to be a world class actress. This film should have been recognized and nominated for at least a Golden Globe by the Hollywood Foreign Press, just recently made in 2008. Am glad I didn't miss this one. Was shot in Quebec.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Jamais je ne t'oublierai...",
By
This review is from: I've Loved You So Long (DVD)
Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) has been away for many years and has come to live with her estranged sister in France. Juliette is withdrawn and silent and only slowly adapts to her new life. Over time, we come to know where she's been and why she is so traumatized.This French film has an intimate, art house-feeling to it; it's all about unraveling Juliette's secret in spite of her sullenness and silence. Thomas, who often plays disdainful posh women, is wonderful as the haunted Juliette. We sympathize with her even before we learn her secret; afterward, we feel her pain and loss. Though Juliette is a woman of very few words, her tortured face reveals the agony within. The story is a moody mystery with touching performances and a poignant script. If you love the pretty French children's song, "A la Claire Fontaine," you'll be humming it for days after watching this movie. It's sad and delicate and will have you wondering what you would do in Juliette's situation. In French with English subtitles (I tried listening to it in English but thought it was much better in French, and Thomas' French is very good.)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (76 customer reviews) 87 of 88 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of those movies you'll still be thinking about days and weeks later,
By Sharon Isch - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: I've Loved You So Long (DVD)
I think I'd call this a perfect gray day movie and I suggest seeing it with someone who's on your same wave length because, once it's over, you're going to want to talk about it and, perhaps, piece together the parts of the story that were merely alluded to.Kristin Scott Thomas, in a quietly intense, brilliantly calibrated performance, plays a woman just freed after 15 years in prison for murder. Until she can establish a new life, she is to move in with the sister who never came to visit her in all those years and the sister's family--a worried husband, two young adopted daughters and the husband's father, a stroke victim who can no longer talk. Soon a parole officer who dreams of visiting the Orinoco and a university colleague of the sister, who once taught in a prison, assume key roles as well. All these characters, even the little kids, come off as exceptionally real and interesting people. This is one of those movies that reveals itself slowly and stays with you for a long time. It plays on an emotional level that reminds me somewhat of "Under the Sand," the Charlotte Rampling movie about the woman whose husband went for a swim and was never seen again. (Odd, kind of, that both are French movies that star English actresses who've lived most of their adult lives in France.) 55 of 56 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Human Struggle of Living and Loving,
By A. Mays "filmscribe" - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: I've Loved You So Long (DVD)
This is an excellent film. But, not just because it is smartly written, splendidly acted, and directed with just the right touch so as to make you feel as if you are watching life unfold in the lives of people who would be shocked to find you there, uninvited. It is also an excellent film because it takes up important subjects like forgiveness, healing, courage, and grace. It gets at the ironic beauty and pain of life without being heavy-handed and melodramatic. I went to see this film three times...as I don't speak French, I spent the first screening reading it. The second time I watched the sheer nakedness of the performances. The third time, I was able to catch the nuances of its visual storytelling. At no point in these screenings was I bored. Nor did I feel I was seeing the same moments repeated. This film deserves that kind of attention.
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By Trevar A. Chilver "Trevar Alan Chilver" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: I've Loved You So Long (DVD)
While I've never been such a Philistine as to decline to see a film because it is in an unknown language and I'd have to read the subtitles, there is usually a sense of emotional distance when you have to read the words yourself. In the case of I've Loved You So Long, I felt no such distance. Indeed, this is the first time I've cried in a movie since... I don't know when. Sure, I am a callous bastard, but I often find myself moved by a film, only, rarely do I find myself as moved as I was by this one.I've Loved You So Long focuses on the story of Juliette Fontaine coming from prison to live with her sister, who was a young adolescent when she was incarcerated. The tensions of living with an extended family are exacerbated by Juliette's personality, which it is accepted is altered by her time in gaol. Philippe Claudel's story is beautifully structured to release just as much information as is necessary to keep you interested, while retaining just enough mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat. I have never seen a French film that I haven't liked, but I have also never seen a French film of this calibre. It is an outstanding piece of storytelling, full of pathos and charm. |
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