Film Review / Commentary – Laurent Lariviere’s second feature film “About Joan” modestly approaches the technique of autofiction as a defense against pain. With Isabelle Huppert and Swan Arlaud.
A disturbing inner journey
Director Laurent Lariviere Shocked the viewer I am a soldierHis first feature film. About John Produces the same effect, but in a less upfront, more subtle, more underground way. Because this movie is one of those movies that goes deep into the heart of the audience. They even deserve to be reviewed to better understand the implications of irrelevance and dig into the various levels of the heroine’s influence.
It should be recognized that images and stories do not evoke immediate emotions But it will take some time to surface. In particular, the character of Joan Vera, delicately interpreted by Isabelle Huppert, is not particularly endearing. Even if she witnesses the viewer and tells him her life story, We feel it detached as alien to our own feelings. So when she accompanies her writer, Tim Arden (Lars Edinger), on promotion, she’s physically present but her mind is elsewhere. She smiles, but her smile is fake. It is perhaps no coincidence that she became an editor who loves to highlight other people’s stories.
John’s potential flaw begins to dawn when he discovers the man pursuing him. It’s Doug (Stanley Townsend), his great love from the past whom he met in Ireland. As soon as they hugged at this cafe to say goodbye like old friends, Sensory memories emerge quickly. Forty years later, the memories of young Joan Vera (Freya Mavor) and Doug (Inna Hardwicke) are still on edge. As the body still remembers the heart put aside.
Still, it’s hard to believe that the very sensual and passionate young woman of the 70s has become so cold and distant in the 90s. About John To know the reasons. This is because the film appeals so much to the viewer’s emotional intelligence that they may sometimes feel uncomfortable with originality and bias. Staging.
The power of memories
Admittedly, the similarities between Isabelle Huppert and Freya Mavor take some adjusting to become apparent. But the scenes of the past and the present closely match In flashbacks throughout John’s story. Like how memory works, they respond well to each other, and the viewer is used to seeing the characters evolve naturally from one era to another without ever mixing brushes.
A third capital character appears at different ages. John and Doug’s son is Nathan: Jean-Louis Breust in the 80s, Dimitri Dore in the 90s, and Swann Arlad these days. The movie cleverly exclaims how John’s relationship with Nathan is both romantic and scornful. A relationship Joan never had with her mother Madeleine (Florence Loret-Cayle, in a lovely role that exudes femininity and sensitivity we’re not used to seeing).
This meteor would have a devastating effect on Joan. Because happy memories bring painful memories with them. Unable to sort. Even if Joan seemed to have managed all these years to guiltily lock them in a room where she thought she had locked the door and thrown away the key. About John Showing up very modestly The way this self-controlled woman’s shell gradually cracks.
Joan finds herself overwhelmed by feelings of the past and reluctantly gives way to Dyke. Then, without warning, tears flow from the eyes of both the heroine and the audience. Because Laurent Lariviere and his co-screenwriter François Decodes have succeeded in keeping the suspense of John’s truth until the very end. All the pieces of his intimate puzzle fit together and make sense. About John So it turns out An intense movie Shows how memory and the mysteries of the brain make coping possible Unspeakable reality.
About John Laurent Lariviere, in theaters September 14, 2022 . Above the trailer. Find all our trailers here.
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