This is a brilliant film; it appeals simultaneously
to the mind and the senses as only the classic French
films seem capable of. It is destined to be remade
into a Hollywood picture with guns and car chases and
no intelligence.

I remember reading Manohla Dargis review but she doesn't
really warn about the extensive scenes of the Binoche
character (Claire) staring into cell phones and face
book pages in the first half of the film. (I have been
locked out of NYT for weeks now and can't check back.)
This is not really a disadvantage; acting all by herself
only showcases the actress's astonishing skills. For
the role of a literature professor who has too much
imagination and is obsessed with a man half her age,
Binoche invents some interesting facial ticks and
tilts with half of her face. They go well with the
comic tone of the first half.

Then the film goes really dark in the second half;
but the camera is now liberated, can move and roam
outdoors, and the story becomes much more emotionally
expansive. Binoche's work is out of this world here,
and Francois Civil (who plays the inarticulate son
in _Back to Burgundy_) and Nicole Garcia (a stern
psychotherapist) are excellent as well. The two halves
boast a beautiful symmetry, only to have the spell
broken by more secrets revealed in the final short
act. The characters reminds me Patrice Leconte's
obsessive romantics, except that I don't think Leconte
never had the good fortune to work with someone like
Binoche.

This is the best film of 2021 I have seen so far. (Although
technically it was released in France in 2018. Sigh!)

(for A.)

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