The beautiful Jeanne is a successful biography writer, who is intent on writing an autobiographical novel based on her childhood. A childhood she does not remember due to a car accident in Sicily. Her book is however rejected by her publisher, as a story too focused on countless descriptions, but void of any emotion. Coincidentally Jeanne starts to have troubles with perception - photographs, cameras and mirrors begin to show things that Jeanne remembered totally differently. She stops recognising her house, her husband, her two kids and in the end she no longer knows the person she sees in the mirror...
Unaware of Marina de Van's previous work I picked this movie up due to it's Cannes credentials. Told with some very competent and tight storytelling (although not devoid of slight plot holes or unnecessary scenes added just for eeriness) this French movie never cops out on it's promised delivery. Also instead of your typical American shock twist you are treated with a much more subtle, intelligent and down-to-earth ending, which logically evolves from the beginning to an at least satisfying finale. Although horror fans may be disappointed by the relatively unshocking solution - at times the movie promises to frighten keeping the viewer on the verge of something horrific, but concludes without a single frightening moment. All in all de Van had a story to tell and she did that expertly - emotionally dragging you in and also keeping the tension sharp as a razor throughout the movie.
Both Sophie Marceau and Monica Belucci do an expert job conveying the story and it is self-explanatory why they are widely held as two of the best actresses of their generation in Europe. Both actresses give award-worthy performances, but it'ld be hard to decide which of them should win the prize, as they basically play the same character and you would be forgiven if you forgot that two actresses played the same role. There is almost no way to tell at what exact moment Marceau is exchanged for Belucci.
In this case it is quite evident that they were hired for much more than their looks. Nonetheless both are ravishing in this movie, albeit age looks to be creeping up on Belucci much faster than on Marceau. Fortunately for them their class acting should keep them busy until they are both over 80. Supporting cast is also spot on, although this movie focuses so heavily on Jeanne, that you hardly notice their presence and input.
In the end you may however feel slightly underwhelmed by the movie, which although nicely told does not always feel deserving of a full length feature. Also some of the cinematography seemed detached from the story and the viewer was unable to really notice the changes that occurred in Jeanne's surroundings. Were it not for Jeanne's weird behaviour you would be forgiven for not noticing anything wrong. That said they were some beautifully done sequences where faces of people change around her, but that has more to do with the make-up and special effects crew, than the DOP.
Unaware of Marina de Van's previous work I picked this movie up due to it's Cannes credentials. Told with some very competent and tight storytelling (although not devoid of slight plot holes or unnecessary scenes added just for eeriness) this French movie never cops out on it's promised delivery. Also instead of your typical American shock twist you are treated with a much more subtle, intelligent and down-to-earth ending, which logically evolves from the beginning to an at least satisfying finale. Although horror fans may be disappointed by the relatively unshocking solution - at times the movie promises to frighten keeping the viewer on the verge of something horrific, but concludes without a single frightening moment. All in all de Van had a story to tell and she did that expertly - emotionally dragging you in and also keeping the tension sharp as a razor throughout the movie.
Both Sophie Marceau and Monica Belucci do an expert job conveying the story and it is self-explanatory why they are widely held as two of the best actresses of their generation in Europe. Both actresses give award-worthy performances, but it'ld be hard to decide which of them should win the prize, as they basically play the same character and you would be forgiven if you forgot that two actresses played the same role. There is almost no way to tell at what exact moment Marceau is exchanged for Belucci.
In this case it is quite evident that they were hired for much more than their looks. Nonetheless both are ravishing in this movie, albeit age looks to be creeping up on Belucci much faster than on Marceau. Fortunately for them their class acting should keep them busy until they are both over 80. Supporting cast is also spot on, although this movie focuses so heavily on Jeanne, that you hardly notice their presence and input.
In the end you may however feel slightly underwhelmed by the movie, which although nicely told does not always feel deserving of a full length feature. Also some of the cinematography seemed detached from the story and the viewer was unable to really notice the changes that occurred in Jeanne's surroundings. Were it not for Jeanne's weird behaviour you would be forgiven for not noticing anything wrong. That said they were some beautifully done sequences where faces of people change around her, but that has more to do with the make-up and special effects crew, than the DOP.