Il y’a longtemps que je t’aime, opening in limited release this weekend, is a powerful film about loss and renewal( see capsule review in Festival Diary, Sept. 11 2008). In Philippe Claudel’s directorial debut, Kristin Scott Thomas gives a staggering performance of a woman who has been imprisoned for 15 years for a horrific murder and is reunited with her sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), now married with two adopted children.
When we first see Juliette(Scott Thomas) waiting for her sister at the airport, she appears dead in spirit. During a Q & A session after a screening during the Toronto Film Festival, Claudel described his film, “It’s a story of rebirth” and added, “It’s important at the start of the movie to have a face of a dead woman.” He went on to say, “I think with one picture the audience can feel the tragedy. It’s the beautiful talent that Kristin has, just her face, just her skin, just her eyes to show this terrible tragedy.”
At the same screening Thomas described her preparation for the role, “It is a delicate thing to approach. I was afraid of betraying the prison experience so I consulted with Philippe, my director and asked him whether he thought I should go and visit people in prison and I told him of my fears of being overwhelmed by my own emotion as to the experience of spending a long time in jail or having done some terrible crime.” She added, “I was very afraid that my own pity or my own anger…my own feelings would get in the way of this part.” So in consultation with her director, they agreed that she did not need to go visit a prison. Claudel handed to Scott Thomas his own book to read which describes his experiences as a teacher in prisons. Scott Thomas went on to say, “I spoke to various people about the effect of a long term prison sentence and that’s how I managed to get the base of how I imagined would be a convincing starting block.”
Scott Thomas continued saying, “I think we all have a fear, basically of isolation and abandonment. I think most of us would recognize that fear and my job is to develop it and use it to feed it during the film.”
As Juliette slowly finds her way again in the world, with a new relationship, a new job and reacquainting herself with her sister Lea and her family, we slowly come to learn the tragic circumstances that lead to that fateful day. In the final scene of the film when Lea’s husband arrives thru the door, after a dramatic revelation and understanding between the two sisters, he asks where everyone is and Juliette responds “Je suis la” (I am here). This line has a great significance because according to Claudel this describes, “the certification of the rebirth of this woman”. It also marks a rebirth in award circles for Ms. Scott Thomas, who last received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress more than 10 years ago for The English Patient and more than likely will receive her second nomination for this performance.
Social tagging: BEST ACTRESS > Oscar > The Toronto Film Festival
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