I've already noted several times before how much I was anticipating this movie, so I won't bore anyone with the details. I'll just get down to why I thought this movie was so great, which it is. It's Jacques Audiard's follow up to the excellent A Prophet from 2009. It's a love story that centers on the lives of a killer whale trainer who has lost both of her legs in an accident, and a man who helps her, a man living with his sister while he tries to raise his son.
The love between these two is a very gradual one that takes a lot of time to develop. Sometimes it does feel too obvious, but the realistic light this movie paints itself in is certainly to be admired. Audiard writes the movie in such a delicate and thoughtful way, and he gets the best out of his cast and craftspeople as a director. Indeed, the two leads are what totally make this movie. Matthias Schoenaerts is very good, and believably fragile. Marion Cotillard gets the best role she's had since La Vie En Rose, rescuing her career from middling supporting performances in American cinema. Hers is raw, heartbreaking, and her presence is just so commanding and charming. All of her scenes in the movie are the most phenomenal moments.
****1/2 / *****
The love between these two is a very gradual one that takes a lot of time to develop. Sometimes it does feel too obvious, but the realistic light this movie paints itself in is certainly to be admired. Audiard writes the movie in such a delicate and thoughtful way, and he gets the best out of his cast and craftspeople as a director. Indeed, the two leads are what totally make this movie. Matthias Schoenaerts is very good, and believably fragile. Marion Cotillard gets the best role she's had since La Vie En Rose, rescuing her career from middling supporting performances in American cinema. Hers is raw, heartbreaking, and her presence is just so commanding and charming. All of her scenes in the movie are the most phenomenal moments.
****1/2 / *****