Purely Joyful Movie!

Just what I expected

Best movie of this year hands down!

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

How does one return to family, friends and life in general after spending 15 years in prison? Are the people you remember still the same? Are you still the same to them? And how do you go about trying to rebuild your life? Il y a longtemps que je t'aime is a very thoughtful film on these very topics.Juliette (played with a subtle intensity by Kristin Scott Thomas) has just been released from prison and goes to live with her younger sister, Léa. We sense both warmth and distance between them when Léa picks her up from the airport. The film then focuses on slowly developing their bond and Juliette's troubles in navigating daily life which, of course, includes things like job applications and going out.The ways in which Juliette's relation to society is troubled by her history are incredibly varied: in many situations she feels it is best if she doesn't speak about it. When she does, however, she is either shown a look of disgust or ridiculed by a group of people who thinks she's joking. This is the main strength of the film: showing, in a slice-of-life manner, the many ways her past haunts the present as she tries to rebuild her life.This also brings us to what might be one of its (few) faults: pacing. The flow of the film is perfectly suited for its subject matter, but any 'slow' film also brings with it the risk of boring its audience. For me, this was not the case as I found the pace befitting the way Juliette has to cope with the world on a daily basis. Your mileage may vary.One last thing that got me thinking was the decision to go with the theme of a 'mercy killing', which must have made it easier for this film to work. It's the same with the TV-show Dexter which would be unwatchable if Dexter wasn't compelled by the Code of Harry to only kill criminals or those who 'deserve' it. At the same time I recognize that this wouldn't really have changed the nature of Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, since in both cases it would still be about a society highly unable to cope with someone like Juliette. What would change is the audience: I think it would be impossible for the audience to relate to Juliette had it not been a mercy killing. Speculation aside, this is a film all about the day-to-day interactions between Juliette and the people around her and how both parties cope with each other and if you're prepared for the purposefully slow tempo, then you'll most likely find it a very moving experience.

This movie grabs you by the senses and doesn't let go. Kristin Scott Thomas is in a class with few other actresses that can command a camera without speaking a word. Meagerly we are given pieces to the puzzle, one piece here then another. We are perplexed in the beginning. We see an intelligent woman, we watch her eyes which say more than words. Eventually we wonder "how can this be". As we delve deeper and deeper into Juliettes past we hang on to every word.Then in one swoop the final piece to the puzzle is given to us feeling so much empathy for Juliette we want to take her in our arms and console her. The perplexity of human beings is not always evident. The sadist goading of the dinner host machine-gunning Juliette with questions. But here is a strong woman, hardened by prison and smart. She out maneuvered him without his even realizing it. She's a stoic woman using words preciously, precisely and does not mince them. There is nothing fake about Juliette and we admire her more as obstacles are thrown in her way and she overcomes each and every one. From the unfriendly brother-in-law to the snooping social worker. Kristin Scott Thomas is in my opinion more emotional in a French speaking role than her past English roles. She is in a class with Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, and Charlize Theron, Hillary Swank. I place this foreign film with my other greats, The Lives of Others, The Secret in Their Eyes, The Counterfeiters and 13 Tzameti. My only criticism from giving this movie a 10 is that Juliette's character is so logical and sensible, why then did she not defend herself 15 years earlier with the truth. My guess, beaten down, non-loving parents from childhood, and total resignation to her fate, but then we wouldn't have a movie would we-I understand Kristin Scott Thomas has never won an Oscar. I hope that changes sometime soon.

This is one of the most powerful movies I have seen in a while. I was hugely impressed by the acting of Kristin Scott-Thomas, as a woman who returns to society after 15 years in prison. Her sister opens up to her after years of separation and gives her a chance to recover her lost dignity. The interaction between the sisters is well portrayed. It is honest and loving but difficult. The sister's husband is less forgiving but Scott-Thomas does not allow them to see for themselves the tragic story she has experienced. The interaction with her sister's family is joyful, particularly as she teaches her nieces to read and play music. Even the moments she spends with her brother-in-law's ailing father are tender and beautiful. Eventually the movie reaches a point where the full story cannot be concealed any longer. The outcome is one we can hardly anticipate until we begin to see clues that the sister pursues relentlessly. The movie gives us the story of a woman who has lost her self-esteem but gradually regains it as she works through the quagmire after years of isolation. The sister and her spouse, a comfortable couple who are flawed but trying to do their best for their family, are a tremendous help to her and she eventually becomes a trusted member of the family. She becomes part of the family's social life and is able to build personal relationships of her own, which have consequences that are both rewarding and heart-breaking. All these blend together to tell a compelling story that is honest and fulfilling. The entire cast is excellent. It is an interesting context and the plot keeps our attention to the dramatic finale.

To cut to the chase in a fashion akin to lead character Juliette, I've Loved You So Long is not a happy film. Rather, from its opening shot of Juliette hunched over, her face a mask of entrenched sorrow, the film begets adjectives such as 'haunting', 'sombre' and 'devastating' as it follows Juliette's release from a 15 year prison term, her adjustment to living with her sister's family and her continual processing of past trauma. Nonetheless, director Philippe Claudel demonstrates that downbeat need not be synonymous with defeatist, delivering one of the most profoundly powerful, human and resonant dramas to cross screens in years, continually refusing to shy away from his protagonist's pain yet simultaneously refusing to allow the viewer to succumb to it. While the emotional transition from trauma to recovery and renewal may generally prove an easy pitfall for trite, saccharine Hollywood slush, Claudel deftly maneuvers the reality of the situation, eschewing Oscar-bait scenes of emotional explosions in favour of crystalline serenity and subtlety. Gently guided by Jean-Louis Aubert's poignantly bittersweet musical score and Jerome Almeras' ethereally drifting cinematography, the viewer is left to slowly walk empty streets and shadowed stairwells with Juliette, her vacant eyes, furrowed brow and pursed lips serving as silent narrators for a past which becomes clear only through beautifully excruciating time, as Claudel allows his film to breathe and gather strength at the same speed as its fractured lead. All is told in due time, yet as crucial scenes detailing Juliette rebuilding her life (developing relationships with her parole officer, her sister's co-worker and, most importantly, her sister Léa and family) provide an emotional lifeline for the viewer to clutch to, the film's true impact lies in the scenes of Juliette in silence, lost in thought. Claudel's minimalist approach allows the audience under his protagonist's skin to a nearly unprecedented extent, getting to genuinely know her in spite of the deliberate ambiguities of her history, stringing along characterization at just enough of a pace to prevent her from being subjected to uninformed judging. If a single performance in recent memory has managed to speak so much through silence as Kristen Scott Thomas', it does not come easily to mind. To say Scott Thomas is magnificent feels a cruel understatement, as her every wounded look, uncertain movement and wryly cynical line suggests an unimaginable pool of emotion, a lived-in pain and truth unlike nearly any other. Never once wallowing in the maudlin or distancing the audience in spite of her aloof nature, Scott Thomas' performance, while far too understated to ever garner the appropriate bounty of awards, is truly a self-contained masterpiece worthy of being cherished. Similarly, Elsa Zylberstein, in a role arguably almost as complex, simmers with sorrow peppered by sparky warmth as Juliette's sister Léa, just as wounded by the struggle to re-establish a relationship with a sister formerly written out of her life. Juxtaposing the ruptured emptiness surrounding Juliette with the mirror image of Léa's thriving, successful family provides a tragic binary, yet, through careful interplay between the two masterful actors, one which ultimately reassures the faith and strength of interpersonal relationships and the family infrastructure even as the film pries it apart and questions it. While the film is largely fuelled by these two, the supporting performances, including those of Léa's children, are universally superb and crushingly believable, with Serge Hazanavicius in particular shining with refreshingly offbeat solemnity and dry wit as Léa's husband. Commanding the viewer's attention through a sense of near obligation, a need to help sustain the protagonist, I've Loved You So Long is the sort of tranquil, dignified near- masterpiece which can all too easily creep under the radar of the mass public. Nonetheless, the lasting, wrenching yet cautiously optimistic impact of Claudel's film is testament to the necessity of it reaching the exposure it deserves, being essential viewing for all willing to live alongside a woman destroyed by her past yet daring to take steps towards her future. -9/10