Main Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, and Jean-Marie Lamour
Summary: Sarah Morton is a famous British mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher John Bosload to stay at his home in Luberon, in the South of France. It is the off-season, and Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her--until late one night, when John's indolent and insouciant French daughter Julie unexpectedly arrives.
Sarah's prim and steely English reserve is jarred by Julie's reckless, sexually charged lifestyle. Their interactions set off an increasingly unsettling series of events, as Sarah's creative process and a possible real-life murder begin to blend dangerously together.
Review: Bottom line, this was a really great film. Top notch performances by Charlotte Rampling as Sarah Morton and Ludivine Sagnieras as Julie, neither of which I had ever heard of before, and excellent direction by François Ozon, who I also had never heard of. Luckily, I was given this one on a recommendation from a friend.
The film really nicely lays out time in the beginning for character development, and then as Sarah moves from London to the French mansion, the viewers are given a nice period of development for the new setting and Sarah's adjusting to and exploring of it. Before this gets boring but without cutting it off too short, we are led into the next chapter of the story. Ozon really displays a great sense of timing and story structure throughout the film.
In the middle section of the story, we find further exploration of both of our main players, and also development of the conflict between them, introduction of much of the supporting cast, and just a lot of good little scenes shot beautifully by Ozon. He had some jump cuts here and there, where a scene would cut as soon as a piece of dialogue was finished, whereas I felt other directors might have chosen to insert a moment of awkward silence here and there to reiterate the tense mood. Although these stood out, they didnt take away from the overall flow of the story or the impact of the dialogue.
The only real problem with this film is the ending, which unfortunately hurts the entire rest of the film a bit. Ozon seems as though he may have been going for the ultra-thought provoking ending, where even he may not have a definite answer for the mystery that is presented to the viewers. Either this is the case or he didn't take enough time to explain the occurences at the end of the film so as to clue the viewers in to what he was trying to imply. The big twist comes out only semi-comprehensible, and subsequently only semi-interesting.
Ultimately, a good dramatic film with some bits of humor, top notch acting and directing, an interesting and well-paced story, a slightly muddled ending, good music and supporting cast.
Direction – 17/20 Acting – 19/20 Story – 12/15 Rewatchability – 12/15 Music – 9/10 Depth – 9/10 Cinematography – 5/5 Supporting Cast – 5/5 TOTAL = 88%
88% = 4/5 Stars
Best Quote: "You're just a frustrated Englishwoman who writes about dirty things but never does them."
