Who You Think I Am * * * * 1/2
I'm not really into film festivals: they're expensive, often crowded, contain more than their fair share of duds, and you need a lot of spare time to get through the program. However I try to catch one or two films at some festivals. Here's one I saw at the French Film Festival which is currently on. I'm glad I made the effort.
It stars Juliette Binoche as Claire, a middle aged woman aware of her fading beauty. Her husband has left her for a younger woman, and although she is in a new relationship she has no confidence in her partners faithfulness. He is much younger than she is.
She is seeing a psychiatrist and confessing to an ongoing act of deceit she is committing - though I am sure some people make a habit of what she does - which is to create an artificial online identity that someone might fall in love with. Except Claire has targeted a particular young man Alex, who is a friend of her current partner.
She is intoxicated by his response and revels in the romance, the adulation, and the praise he gives to her. Soon they are talking on the phone. He desperately wants to meet her, but as her online personality and photos are false she cannot allow it. The intensity and passion of their telephone and online relationship builds and ultimately the consequences are dire.
To help herself overcome her actions she writes about it in story form. So, in the third act of the film the story is told again from another perspective, where she has fictionalised what she had done.
Then it's back to reality and a twist that changes everything again.
This is an intriguing, beautifully constructed plot, lucidly and intelligently told. It really is a pleasure to watch. I should not be surprised if it goes mainstream after the Festival. If you get a chance, go see it.
It stars Juliette Binoche as Claire, a middle aged woman aware of her fading beauty. Her husband has left her for a younger woman, and although she is in a new relationship she has no confidence in her partners faithfulness. He is much younger than she is.
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| Merci Monsieur Flippant |
She is intoxicated by his response and revels in the romance, the adulation, and the praise he gives to her. Soon they are talking on the phone. He desperately wants to meet her, but as her online personality and photos are false she cannot allow it. The intensity and passion of their telephone and online relationship builds and ultimately the consequences are dire.
To help herself overcome her actions she writes about it in story form. So, in the third act of the film the story is told again from another perspective, where she has fictionalised what she had done.
Then it's back to reality and a twist that changes everything again.
This is an intriguing, beautifully constructed plot, lucidly and intelligently told. It really is a pleasure to watch. I should not be surprised if it goes mainstream after the Festival. If you get a chance, go see it.
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