Elsa Zylberstein, Kristin Scott Thomas and Philippe Claudel on set
Although the film has only just been released in France and is yet to be dubbed into English, Kristin Scott Thomas has already been tipped for an Oscar nomination next year for her performance in “Il y a longtemps que je t'aime...” (“I’ve Loved You So Long…”). After the extraordinary success of Marion Cotillard in winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose”, it could prove a second annus mirabilis for French cinema.
The movie is based on a novel by Philippe Claudel, one of France’s most prolific and successful writers, whose 15 works of fiction have been translated into 25 languages. He is also a professor of literature at Nancy University, where the film was shot last year, with Claudel making his debut as director.
The younger of two sisters, Léa, is a university teacher, played by Elsa Zylberstein, superbly crafted and understated. Zylberstein is a consistent, talented French actress, but better known for her friendship with Georges-Marc Benamou, one of President Sarkozy’s closest advisers. This film could change all that.
When the story begins, the elder sister Juliette (Kristin Scott-Thomas) has just been released from prison, after serving 15 years for a particularly horrifying crime that resulted in her being disowned by her parents and husband, a crime that is kept from the cinema audience until the film’s denouement. Léa’s whole life is called into question by Juliette’s reappearance, as Juliette, at first fragile and secretive, gradually wins the trust of the family.
In one of the best scenes of the film, Léa’s closest friends, who have speculated endlessly on what lies behind the mystery sister’s sudden reappearance, join the family for a dinner party. The tension is so real you could almost touch it, and Juliette defuses the atmosphere by telling the truth, which, needless to say, not one of the guests then believes.
Kristin Scott Thomas, who has lived in Paris for many years and speaks French like a native, plays a part that actresses more concerned with their personal appearance would never accept: most of the time without make-up, in close-up, saying everything by saying almost nothing. She makes Juliette such an intriguing figure that we are prepared to follow her all the way to what proves, surprisingly, a far from bitter ending.
From our April 2008 e-newsletter
