_Just a sigh_ is another excellent, intimate film by director Jerome
Bonnell, who never disappoints. This time, departing from his usual
focus on youths, he explores the chance encounter between two
middle-aged characters: a well-heeled professor mourning an old flame
at her funeral service, and a down-on-her-luck actress dreading the
changes coming her way. One is wistfully looking backwards, the other nervously peeking ahead. One lives in Britain, the other in the
border town of Lille (the setting of many of Bonnell's films). They
are polar opposites in every way, and when they meet in Paris,
inevitably, quietly, sparks fly. Devos and Byrne don't disappoint,
either (not that they ever do). The film reminds me of Claire Denis'
_Friday Night_, although it takes place almost in real time during
the day. Maybe with a pinch of Jacquot's _A Single Girl_ thrown in.
Is the reference to Pascal meant to remind us of Rohmer? Without
being blatant (or even perhaps intentional) with his French cinematic references, he manages to evoke that hallowed tradition effortlessly.
Bonnell lives and breathes French cinema. The ending is bittersweet,
but open-ended, like in most o his films; there is a chance the two
may yet get together again.

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