June 9th 2023
One Fine Morning
After all the freneticness of so many films each week for the past umpteen weeks, I only have one for you this week. But it's a winner! It's a French film of deep emotional intensity with effortlessly authentic performances from all.
One Fine Morning
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| © Palace - a sublimely lovely slice of everyday life |
Sandra (Lea Seydoux) is a widowed mother raising her young daughter Linn (Camille Leban Martins). She juggles this with her work as a translator and caring for her aging father Georg (Pascal Greggory), once a professor, now deteriorating with dementia (inspired by the real-life father of the director). Amidst all the stress, Sandra embarks upon an affair with an old friend Clement (Melvil Poupaud), who happens to now be married with a young child. This low-key but powerful film is sublimely beautiful in its total authenticity in portraying ordinary life as it is for so many people. Hansen Love never over-dramatises things, but achieves a subtle balance of joy, grief, fun and love as it plays out in the characters' lives. The simplicity of small things, such as Clement playing a game with Linn, is seamlessly interwoven with the complexity of such larger issues, as the stress of finding the right care home for a beloved parent. The three lead actors give magnificent performances, with Seydoux a standout, as she portrays her inner emotions in such a nuanced way. The euphoria of new love, with its occasional erotic moments, counterbalances delicately with the dismay at gradually losing a parent. There is a clarity to the look of the film, and with little extraneous musical soundtrack, we feel, as viewers, that we are part of the lives we are witnessing. Even the smaller characters, Sandra's mother and sisters, all fit perfectly into the story. This is not one for the popcorn brigade, but for those wanting film doing something it does best - portraying life in all its richness.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended
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