Let the Sunshine In (2017)
(Un beau soleil intérieur)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col/1.66:1 94m
Director: Claire Denis
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Laurent Grévill
Synopsis:
Isabelle is a painter, separated from her husband and caught in a spiral of destructive or dead-end relationships which do nothing to fulfil her romantic aspirations or sense of self. Caught in an artistic milieu, she opts instead for 'l'homme abruti', but then ricochets back to a gallery owner, until she meets a clairvoyant who seems to see a path through for her, and the film ends.
Review:
Not so much a romantic comedy as a comédie de moeurs in the Rohmer mould, Denis' dazzling success is both a delightful cinephilic game, ending pretty much where Cléo de 5 à 7 begins, and a deeply heartfelt and moving portrayal of a woman and her longings, which we the audience intuit and understand perfectly thanks to Binoche's stellar performance. There are other felicities too: Grévill's hilariously self-obsessed, disingenuous actor-seducer is one, as is Katerine's droll impersonation of a classic Rohmer character. Denis negotiates all this with aplomb, keeping Isabelle close, and then suddenly wrong-footing us with a switch to Brune Tedeschi and Depardieu in a car at the end. As with Vendredi soir we are left thinking, 'Why doesn't she do this sort of thing more often?'
(Un beau soleil intérieur)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col/1.66:1 94m
Director: Claire Denis
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Laurent Grévill
Synopsis:
Isabelle is a painter, separated from her husband and caught in a spiral of destructive or dead-end relationships which do nothing to fulfil her romantic aspirations or sense of self. Caught in an artistic milieu, she opts instead for 'l'homme abruti', but then ricochets back to a gallery owner, until she meets a clairvoyant who seems to see a path through for her, and the film ends.
Review:
Not so much a romantic comedy as a comédie de moeurs in the Rohmer mould, Denis' dazzling success is both a delightful cinephilic game, ending pretty much where Cléo de 5 à 7 begins, and a deeply heartfelt and moving portrayal of a woman and her longings, which we the audience intuit and understand perfectly thanks to Binoche's stellar performance. There are other felicities too: Grévill's hilariously self-obsessed, disingenuous actor-seducer is one, as is Katerine's droll impersonation of a classic Rohmer character. Denis negotiates all this with aplomb, keeping Isabelle close, and then suddenly wrong-footing us with a switch to Brune Tedeschi and Depardieu in a car at the end. As with Vendredi soir we are left thinking, 'Why doesn't she do this sort of thing more often?'
(Un beau soleil intérieur)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col/1.66:1 94m
Director: Claire Denis
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Laurent Grévill
Synopsis:
Isabelle is a painter, separated from her husband and caught in a spiral of destructive or dead-end relationships which do nothing to fulfil her romantic aspirations or sense of self. Caught in an artistic milieu, she opts instead for 'l'homme abruti', but then ricochets back to a gallery owner, until she meets a clairvoyant who seems to see a path through for her, and the film ends.
Review:
Not so much a romantic comedy as a comédie de moeurs in the Rohmer mould, Denis' dazzling success is both a delightful cinephilic game, ending pretty much where Cléo de 5 à 7 begins, and a deeply heartfelt and moving portrayal of a woman and her longings, which we the audience intuit and understand perfectly thanks to Binoche's stellar performance. There are other felicities too: Grévill's hilariously self-obsessed, disingenuous actor-seducer is one, as is Katerine's droll impersonation of a classic Rohmer character. Denis negotiates all this with aplomb, keeping Isabelle close, and then suddenly wrong-footing us with a switch to Brune Tedeschi and Depardieu in a car at the end. As with Vendredi soir we are left thinking, 'Why doesn't she do this sort of thing more often?'