Watching
an actor speak in a language a language different from what the audience is
accustomed to, is somewhat like watching an actor reinvent themselves. Any
variety of costumes, make-up and accents can do little to disguise the actor we
are familiar with, but actors who can move fluently between languages has the
ability to shift cultures entirely. Make-up is noticeable, especially when done
on an actor or actress whose face is familiar by all, but the ability to speak
languages requires more than a skilled artist. Kristin Scott Thomas is so
remarkably capable in the French I’ve
Loved You So Long, it is hard to believe she is best known for an
English-speaking role in The English Patient. It is also remarkable that she
was not honored by at the Oscars, though it may come as no surprise that
Penelope Cruz was given the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the bilingual
character in Woody Allen’s Vicky
Christina Barcelona.
Kristin
Scott Thomas is Juliette Fontaine, a middle-aged woman just released from
prison after a fifteen year sentence. She is picked up from prison by her
younger sister, Léa (Elsa Zylberstein), though their relationship has been
broken fro the entire time in prison. Juliette has a cold silence about her,
seeming to protect herself with slight resentment and bitterness, though in
moments alone it becomes apparent that the entire ordeal is simply overwhelming
for the woman. Léa is having an equally difficult time, though she is
determined to repair the relationship with her sister, carrying the guilt of
having obeyed her parents in pretending Juliette no longer existed.
The
crime which Juliette committed as a doctor fifteen years prior was not only
illegal, but also carries weight with its impact. For this reason I won’t go
into details, though Léa’s husband, Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), is less than
pleased to have an ex-convict in the house with their adopted children. Soon
Juliette develops a relationship between the girls, which comes surprisingly
easily to the woman despite her past. Luc’s father, Papy Paul (Jean-Claude
Arnaud) seems content simply to ignore her, despite the fact that Juliette
opens up to the old man more than anyone else. In a scene that he is more
determined to read, she shares more with the man unable to respond than all of
the questions she has received since arriving. Her probation officer (Frederic
Pierrot) seems to be on her side, though his stability is not something that
Juliette can rely on. The struggle proves nearly impossible to understand
completely, especially in Juliette’s silence, but this allows a sense of
discovery for both audience and sister as she begins to open to Léa.
Words
can’t describe the manner in which the performances of fully developed
characters prevent the film from ever appearing dull or uninteresting. Even
when there is little significant to say about a particular scene, the reactions
on the actors faces convey a wealth of understand to the audience. The Blu-ray
release of the film offers an alternate audio track with an English-speaking
version dubbed with Scott Thomas providing her voice for the track. There are
also a series of deleted scenes with an option commentary track with first-time
director Philippe Claudel.
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