Die unerschütterliche Liebe der Suzanne

Set in Marseilles and its environs, SUZANNE is a family saga taking place over a quarter of a century involving the eponymous central character (Sara Forestier), her sister Maria (Adèle Haenel), and single parent father (François Damiens). We first encounter Suzanne as a little girl preparing for a dance display; she thoroughly enjoys the experience of performing in front of an audience, but the smile on her face freezes as the jamboree comes to an end. There is something not entirely happy about her existence.

This is a telling moment, as it foreshadows the turbulent progress of Suzanne's development from childhood into womanhood. Her father is a truck-driver, which necessitates his being away from home for lengthy periods at a time. The two sisters do their best to look after themselves, but it seems unsurprising that the adolescent Suzanne should end up pregnant. She subsequently falls deeply in love with petty criminal Julien (Paul Hamy), an affair that puts her family loyalty to the test. Torn between love and duty, Suzanne eventually absconds and ends up in jail.

SUZANNE might be described as the antithesis of the growing-up movies of the mid-Sixties, which celebrated the new-found freedoms of the teenage generation. GEORGY GIRL (1966) might be considered an example. Katell Quillévéré's film includes at least one sequence where Suzanne and Julien display that freedom; but it is set within a framework that is decidedly prison-like. Even before Suzanne serves her sentence, she has to cope with life in a series of poky apartments and/or hotel rooms, all of them dingily furnished. Hence it's hardly surprising that she should desire some form of escape through love.

As the narrative unfolds, so Suzanne's plight becomes more and more desperate. Yet nonetheless we have to admire her for the way she resists all that life has to throw at her. In the end she achieves some kind of emotional fulfillment, even if her immediate surroundings seem less than prepossessing.

SUZANNE is very much a character-focused piece of work, with the camera being particularly adept at portraying the depth of Suzanne's relationship with Julien and her son Charlie (Timothé Vom Dorp) through tight close-ups and two-shots. The action ends with Suzanne's father driving away with the adolescent Charlie (Jaime Da Cunha) across a bare landscape at sunset to the strains of Nina Simone's "Suzanne" (1969). This is an apt choice of song, drawing attention to the character's virtues and her stoicism, despite everything that happens to her.

Stunning film. I'm speechless. The acting is so raw and present. My heart broke over and over again.

Well if you don't like French cinema's style, you will probably not like this one either, bit its your loss. Its a really good movie, I loved it. Very human, about a young girl and her sister who lost their mother when they were babies, and who fell into many difficulties of unpredictable, passionate life. Two working class girls and their father love each other enormously, but the life is not sparing them, with all its turmoils.I actually love the script of this movie. While it seems that everything which is happening is caused by the older sister's unfortunate affair, its just simply their honest, simple, non-calculated nature that is ruining all of them, but also give them some strength in difficult moments. I also see why Adele Haenel got the Cesar for the supporting role, her performance is heavenly in this film. All the cast is really good. Corinne Masiero showing up in a small role, for me that is always a plus. I love this. One of the better films of French cinema in the last ten years.

Excellent tearjerker, presented in episodes of one life (Suzanne's, duh) in the course of many years, from childhood to motherhood, etc... What makes the film special is how wisely those episodes are chosen, exposing a great deal of information in a very effective way for each case, and this is sustained throughout the entire runtime, right until the end. It is effective as we learn both what is shown and what underlies it, with precise cinematic language, and the accumulated emotional charge is never excessive, there is no fanfare but a gentle, deep and steady melancholy. I was engaged and this 90s minutes telling of half a life passed me by like a teary breeze, every scene matters. Researching Adèle Haenel's filmography is a great idea, highly recommended, she doesn't do bad films.

There's a lot to like in Katell Quillévéré's film 'Suzanne', the story of a woman who's life drifts out of control: its great sense of natural warmth and emotion, and the delicate, poignant soundtrack. Credit should go to the two young actresses at its heart. But the film lacks the intensity you might expect in a story of self-destructiveness: it's episodic nature spares us from the gloom of Suzanne's lowest moments in a way that doesn't feel wholly honest and undermines the context of the happier scenes. Another way of putting it is that the film lacks a fixed perspective: we see Suzanne's life neither quite as she sees it, nor as anyone else does. But Quillévéré is clearly a natural talent: she will make great films in future, even if this one isn't quite there.