Why we picked it – A new film by Kore-eda with Deneuve AND Binoche? Oh puhlease…
Synopsis -Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) is a haughty grande dame of French cinema. Her scriptwriter daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) arrives with daughter Charlotte and just-out-of-rehab actor husband Hank (Ethan Hawke) as Fabienne publishes her memoirs, La Verité; but they are far from being the truth. Lumir is irritated at the inaccuracies; Luc, Fabienne’s long-serving assistant, leaves as he is not even mentioned. Fabienne’s reaction says it all:”my memories, my book”. Meanwhile Fabienne is shooting a new film, Memories of my Mother, in which she plays the daughter of a never-ageing mother, a part played by an actress who reminds everyone of a rival of Fabienne, whose career she ruined. Resentments are laid bare; secrets are revealed.
The film – This is Kore-eda’s first film outside Japan. His script was translated for him and he had an interpreter on set. (How does that work?) He also directed Shoplifters, our members’ choice in May 2019. It is set in the Paris house of a haughty grande dame of French cinema, rather than the liminal shack of Tokyo grifters; but, in common with the earlier film, it explores the complex and bittersweet deceits that underlie a family’s ties and tensions. Fabienne’s dominates her relationships with her daughter Lumir (patronised), her son-in-law Hank (career mocked), her husband (“a better cook than a lover”) and her ex-husband (belittled and turned into a tortoise, or “turtle” according to the sub-titles). But this is a hall of mirrors, Lumir and Charlotte watch Fabienne and her screen daughter from a corner of the set for Memories of my Mother. And Lumir can be manipulative too: she scripts Fabienne’s reconciliation with Luc and Charlotte’s conversation with her grandmother (“Did she fall for it?”) What is the truth anyway?
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda, France 2019 106 mins (PG). Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda, incorporating a short story by Ken Liu. Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke. Cinematography: Eric Gautier.
Links
Financial Times review Guardian review New Yorker review
Trivia – There are some knowing touches: – – Look out for the film poster in Fabienne’s house for The Belle of Paris recalling Deneuve’s film Belle de Jour which we showed in 2005. – Fabienne’s dead rival is Sarah Mondavan (monde d’avant?) – Fabienne’s dog is called Toto, so we are on notice that we are not in Kansas anymore.