Film: I've Loved You So Long
Release date: 9th February 2009
Certificate: 12
Running time: 117 mins
Director: Philippe Claudel
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grevill, Frederic Pierrot
Genre: Drama
Studio: Lionsgate
Format: DVD
Country: France/Germany
This critically-acclaimed, character-led French drama scooped the BAFTA for Best Foreign Film in 2009 with prizes elsewhere for its writer and first-time director Philippe Claudel plus his two leading ladies, Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein.
It is the tale of two sisters trying to rebuild their relationship after fifteen years of separation. Juliette (Scott Thomas) is haunted by the secret she hoards and weighed down by the guilt she carries for the crime that landed her in prison. Léa (Zylberstein) is younger and married with two children but is eager to bring Juliette back into the fold despite the risk of alienating her husband, Luc (Serge Hazanavicius).
So what has Juliette done - and why? Her shocking crime is unveiled as she attends job interviews, meets her welfare officer or signs in at the police station. Yet it remains unmentionable in the family home. “I was away on a long trip,” is her explanation as Léa’s daughter, P'tit Lys (Lise Ségur) innocently and enthusiastically cross-questions Juliette at the dinner table shortly after her arrival.
Léa’s hospitality and determination to shed her own guilt after being urged by her parents to disown Juliette is counter-balanced by Luc’s barely-disguised hostility – he feels he has legitimate concerns for his family’s safety. Juliette makes other more accepting acquaintances along the way – notably Léa’s colleague Michel (Laurent Grévill) and Captain Fauré (Frédéric Pierrot) – as she tries to forge a future in the shadow of her damning past…
The first thing to say about I’ve Loved You So Long is this: if you enjoy watching Scott Thomas, you’ll be in clover. Only Claudel can say whether he wrote the character of Juliette with her in mind, but it is undoubtedly a perfect fit. Few actors can convey so much while saying so little and Scott Thomas delivers a master class. Which is just as well – she’s barely off-screen.
Born in Cornwall, Scott Thomas used to be considered a quintessentially English actor, best known for her role in The English Patient. But she says she considers herself more French than British, and even offered a tongue-in-cheek apology to her legion of English fans for the increasingly Gallic flavour of her output since the turn of the century. When she produces vintage work such as this, Scott Thomas can be forgiven for that – and pretty much anything else.
This is less a story, more a study of the relationships that Juliette must tolerate and nurture as she feels her way back into society. We meet her in the first scene and it’s clear that this integration is reluctantly undertaken. Léa runs towards her in the airport but Juliette - fragile, uncomfortable and smoking incessantly - would rather keep her own counsel. Back at the house, it’s no surprise she is drawn towards Luc’s mute father, Papy Paul (delightfully played by Jean-Claude Arnaud), the one character who won’t engage her in awkward conversation.
Scott Thomas deftly takes Juliette through a subtle transition. At first, she cannot help but drag all and sundry down with her. Snapping at P'tit Lys, coldly dismissing a chance sexual conquest and sucking the enthusiasm out of her eager-to-please sister, Juliette seems intent on biting the hand that feeds.
And yet, as the days and weeks unfold, chinks of light appear through the gloom. Juliette softens, finding joy in a burgeoning relationship with P'tit Lys that is played out through piano lessons. She discovers a soulmate in Michel, reserving by far her longest and most frank utterances for him. She even becomes a crutch on which Captain Fauré can lean – a character who reminds Juliette that she is not the only tortured soul out there.
But Scott Thomas is perhaps at her best during her scenes with Hazanavicius. While Léa requires no winning over, Luc makes no secret of his mistrust and disdain for her. Juliette knows her presence exposes a fault line between her sister and brother-in-law, and it’s compelling to watch how Claudel edges Juliette and Luc towards mutual respect. Scott Thomas and Hazanavicius handle these psychological pigeon steps beautifully, not least in a stand-out scene where Luc’s frostiness thaws after a surprise request from his daughter.
It’s worth mentioning the score at this stage. For the vast majority of Claudel’s film, there is none to speak of. But during key scenes, like the aforementioned, an acoustic flourish from Jean-Louis Aubert lends weight. It’s a tribute to the acting that silence works best for the most part.
The same rule applies to Claudel’s script. Crucially it is sparse enough to allow for the speechlessness that such shocking subject matter requires. But at the same time, Claudel, a novelist for many years, manages to keep the story moving at a decent enough pace.
With Scott Thomas in such stunning form, it’s difficult to take your eyes off her. But to overlook Juliette’s fellow characters would do a disservice to a brilliant cast. Zylberstein is outstanding and utterly believable as Léa, the ‘glue’ that holds the film together. Juliette feels the deepest pain but Léa has the most to lose after risking the equilibrium of her family unit by allowing this ‘alien body’ to invade it.
Despite this obvious dilemma, Léa’s loyalty for her sibling never wanes from the moment she rushes towards Juliette in the opening scene. Getting emotionally closer will prove far tougher but Léa, with ghosts of her own to exorcise, probes for common ground as they learn to be sisters again. Inevitably, this involves reminiscing about their shared days of innocence – before Juliette’s guilt changed their lives. Léa admonishes herself for her hazy memory, knowing full well it’s the only touchstone they have.
Zylberstein plays the stoic ‘fixer’ superbly and briefly steals the show when, finally, it all gets too much and she verbally assaults one of her students while debating Dostoevsky’s ‘Crime And Punishment’ - a work of fiction with echoes of her sister’s reality. Zylberstein won the César for Best Supporting Actress for her contribution to this film - and it’s easy to see why.
When you sum up I’ve Loved You So Long, it’s clear that Scott Thomas is the heart and soul of this enthralling melodrama about guilt, grief, forgiveness and family. Claudel’s script gives her the platform to produce a career-defining performance in which every word, every expression, every sigh is measured to perfection. CH
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