I’ve Loved You So Long (2009, Sony)
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Philippe Claudel’s French film, I’ve Loved You So Long, opens at an airport where a woman smokes a cigarette, waiting for her sister. The woman is Juliette (played by Kristin Scott Thomas), just released from prison after serving 15 years for a horrible crime, the murder of her son. Her sister, Lea (a remarkable Elysa Zylberstein), finally arrives and they share an embrace. Lea is overjoyed to have her sister back; Juliette has trepidations, unsure what to make of her sister’s motives. After years in prison she is cautious and accustomed to being alone. They drive back to Lea’s home where she lives with her family. The two women thus begin their own separate journeys of redemption and rediscovery as Juliette tries to return to the civilized world and Lea does her best to reconnect with her estranged sister. In the film, Scott Thomas, the glamorous beauty we’ve come to know through roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, and Gosford Park, delivers a raw, brave performance in what is one of the most moving movie experiences I’ve had in a long time.
As the story unfolds, we learn that Juliette was convicted while Lea was still a teenager. Because of Juliette’s unthinkable actions, their parents “brainwashed” Lea (her words) into disowning her sister. However, after years of no contact, when Lea is approached by the prison system to take in Juliette upon her release, Lea jumps at the opportunity. Not that her husband, Luc (Serge Hazanavicius) is happy about it. In fact, because no one knows or understands why Juliette did what she did (she remained a blank face during her criminal trial), Luc is rightly uneasy with having Juliette around his and Lea’s two adopted daughters. By moving in with Lea, Juliette is thrust into a big circle of family and friends that includes Luc’s mute father (Jean-Claude Arnaud) who spends his days reading books. Juliette finds comfort in the old man, as he can’t ask her questions and does not seem to judge her. For obvious reasons, Juliette feels most comfortable around people who know nothing of her past. Only when she is asked to open up about what took place does she lash out and show any anger.
As for Lea, she hopes to redeem herself in her older sister’s eyes. She appears willing to do what it takes to reconnect with Juliette and make up the 15 years lost between them. Although Luc struggles to comprehend his wife’s actions, like a good husband he eventually realizes that Juliette has paid for her sins and deserves a second chance. He also slowly realizes that repairing the bond between the sisters will not only help Juliette, but also it will bring inner peace to Lea, the woman he loves. Although unsure where the relationship will head, Lea is a character with an abundance of love and forgiveness. Someday she will learn the truth behind Juliette’s son’s death, but until then, she is accepting Juliette and forgiving her. (more…)
