Una pasión oculta

In life, people all have shades of grey. We have good moments and bad. At times, a person can be our best friend, and at other times, he can seem our worst enemy. A family member can be our greatest ally, and then suddenly our fiercest obstacle. But for the purposes of cinema, films often eliminate these complexities. They present us with heroes who are immaculate in virtually every way and villains who have no redeeming qualities whatsoever — and they expect us to cheer and boo accordingly. But that certainly isn't the case in Charlie Stratton's first feature film, In Secret . In this dark and captivating drama based on the novel Thérèse by Émile Zola, the lines are brilliantly blurred. There's no hero to worship or villain to wish dead — just people with good moments and frighteningly bad moments trying to get through life.

When Thérèse Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen) is left with her Aunt (Jessica Lange) after her mother's death, her life doesn't seem to be off to the best start. After years caring for her ailing cousin Camille (Tom Felton), her aunt announces that the two of them will be wed and they'll all move to the city. Understandably, this isn't the life the imaginative Thérèse had dreamt for her future. But dutifully, she does as she's told — and quickly sinks deeper and deeper into the hands of this family she never truly wanted to be part of.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the strong, charismatic, and handsome Laurent (Oscar Isaac) presents himself and she finds hope and love for the first time in her young life. But with a needy husband and overbearing aunt, the two realize they can never truly be together — unless they take matters into their own hands. And so begins a dark and terrifying psychological study of what happens when people are desperate to pursue their wants, regardless of the damage those desires may cause.

Although the average summary of the film might have you going into the cinema expecting a tortured romantic drama, Stratton isn't afraid to take sharp turns without a moment's notice. So be prepared for plenty of darkness and suspense. Your notions of bad guys and good guys quickly disappear as you find yourself cheering for one character one moment and feeling terrified of her at the next. Olsen, Lange, Felton, and Isaac carry off these depictions of refreshingly multi-dimensional characters almost effortlessly and with captivating honesty. Stratton's screenplay and direction brilliantly capture the complexities of human wants and needs — and the devastating effects of our desperate attempts to achieve them.

Everyone just wants to be happy — but at what cost?

http://juliekinnear.com/blogs/in-secret-review

When I usually go to see movies which cover a past period of time, I take the trouble of not reading too much about the background or skipping the book it is based on, so that I may judge the product purely on its merits and the strengths of the entire production crew that went into it's making. It pleases me to share with you that "In Secret" ranks as one such fine effort, right from the beginning it transports you to the mid-1800s era of rural France, and tells us the story of little Therese Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen). This effort has good production values, for not even a single moment does your attention drift away from the development of the characters, seeing them grow up, make the ties binding to the extent that Therese clearly suffers from the over bearing domination of her mother-in-law, played brilliantly by Jessica Lange. She gives the entire movie a continuation of the thread for the story, at times you feel her looks, demeanor and restrained but piercing performance, towards the end, are very absorbing. Hats off to the casting crew for making the right call here, she was born to play this role.

I wish to thank my fellow cinema mates - Isabelle and Lisa (you know who you are!) - for sharing their insights with me post the viewing. Correct use of lighting does give this piece the right feel of the suffocating & dreary lower working class Paris conditions, the same dark focus and clever use of perspective subtly nudge the viewer into feeling very tense as the story of betrayal develops. The very same way the characters demons grow, speaks to the way all of them absorb the souls of the players and share them with us flawlessly. As my fellow cinema watchers also shared with me, this movie is not for everyone, and only serious lovers of subtle simple but powerful period stories will appreciate this work. I suspect they are also right in anticipating that we may see many more French literary pieces coming to life on the big screen in the next few years. I give this movie an 8 star rating, simply because I appreciated every frame contributing to the telling of the story, no wasted effort or superfluous diversions whatsoever.

Thérèse Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen) is left by her father to live with his sister (Jessica Lange). Her hope of his return is lost when he's reported dead. She is pushed to marry her sickly cousin Camille (Tom Felton) by her domineering aunt. Camille finds a clerical job in Paris and the three of them move to the city. They buy a dusty shop and Thérèse is stuck behind the counters at the empty shop. She falls for Camille's new work friend Laurent (Oscar Isaac) who also paints. They quickly have an affair. However their secret affair is threatened when Camille decides to move back to the country.

It's a rather dull costume drama for the first half hour. Everything is dim and cold. Olsen needs some more opportunity to do something. When she pretended to be a bear, it was a flash of something great. The movie seems to be filled with possible great moments that are quickly engulfed by the movie's overwhelming blackness and whispers. It's an old romance novel of corset ripping without any great charm.

When the movie changes to a murder thriller, it picks up some energy but nothing that truly takes off. The prodding darkness keeps clawing it back to lifelessness. I never really fell in love with the couple. Lange is masterful at times but the movie is generally lifeless. It tries to be a nightmarish Hitchcockian thriller but director Charlie Stratton doesn't have the skills.

Paris during a past century. A woman is slowly dying in a loveless marriage but what can she do? She accepts her fate and goes on until the possibility of romance and passion comes her way. Then everything changes and she becomes prepared to do the unthinkable, but is the man she has fallen for a better bet than the husband for whim she has no love?

The location and costumes gave it an aura of authenticity as well as having a very potent storyline makes for an intriguing viewing experience. The let down comes from the fact that it is Hollywood making an epoch film. The way the characters are introduced and the plot develops is way too fast to create the impact it should.

"In secret" is a very poignant title, all evolving around a woman. She is drowning in her marriage...in secret, she meets and falls for another man...in secret, she goes out of her depth to be free of her husband and be with the one she loves...in secret. When the secret is revealed, the whole situation collapses like a pack of cards.

I liked it. I think it's pretty Shakespearean, so if you enjoy those kind of stories, you will like this one. Great acting.