L'épreuve

I saw this at The Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis this weekend. It's been 24+ hours since the movie ended, and it's themes are still with me. The horror of war..the difficulty balancing passion and pragmatism...what do children need from their parents... My mind changed such that the final take away is the theme of the film. Life is difficult and decisions have consequences. I want to have coffee with Rebecca and shake her. Tell her how much her children and husband need her..Tell her the sacrifice isn't worth it. Atrocities will continue. Taking pictures of suicide bombers does glamorous the cause. Taking pictures of deceased Africans doesn't bring them to life. Why are you so angry? For these reasons, I must recommend this film. It is not only well acted, but it creates and stirs up emotions, makes you think. Some time more than entertainment is demanded from a film.

Frankly, I never knew what the movie is about. What I expected was a beautiful romantic drama and I got a movie that defined someone's struggle over her passion and its reality. After seeing opening scene I thought it would be another movie about war similar to the '5 Days of War'. I am glad it was so distinct which was partially based on the director own experiential story when he served as a photojournalist in the '80s. It is a jointly produced movie by Ireland and Norway in English language.

Rebecca is a passionate war zone photojournalist and her daring attitude make her one of the finest on the field. Like always her latest journey takes place in the war torn city of Kabul, Afghanistan. She follows a suicide bomber to cover up the story where she gets injured. After the accident the whole story flips back to her home in Ireland where it chronicles the worried husband and the two children who are very affectionate of her. This is the time where she has to choose the side, the professional? Or the family? The stay at home during recovery makes her realize the worth of her life. So the movie's end strikes with the path she opts to travel forth.

''Sometimes it's hard to stay at home. I mean, the one who stays at home has the hardest job.''

Well, it served a message with the touch of melodrama. The story demonstrated family value on the right amount of each others love and care. The opening and the end scenes that take place in Afghanistan was so brutal and there's another one that takes place in Kenya. But bringing the reality on the screen as it happening some places of the world must be appreciated. It kind of makes you realize that someone is sacrificing their life to bring light on what's happening in the war zones. Like always, Juliette Binoche was good. It was her movie, her side of the story told when she was caught between the family who loves and the war that calls her.

One of the fascinating thematic movie. Regarding the main role, you may think why she's not stopping the tragedy from happening. That's the journalism, when you have no power to act, just expose to the rest of the world. The combination of family drama and the conflict zone are like two different genres that brought together awesomely. The director's own experience helped to shape the movie well. Almost all the combat related scenes were so realistic as what he had seen is now letting us know through this film. I think this movie is a must see. The end scene makes us go speechless, woefully.

What I was hoping would be a thought-provoking trip into the psychology of the heart of bloody conflict instead becomes a pompous, boring, weighted thing of mediocrity. It's almost as if the director believes that the seriousness of the subject matter is enough to make the film compelling to audiences - which it isn't.

Unfortunately an important theme still requires pacing - which is not best accomplished by long silences and slow-mo ad-nauseum. The cardboard supporting cast display all the range of a TV commercial trying to inspire sympathy, and there's some atrocious child acting.

I know many people will feel compelled to like this because of the subject matter and the strong female lead, but beyond the façade of great cinematography and overly emotional music this is simply not well made.

Self-importance sinks this film.

Juliette Binoche is one of the finest actresses of the past few decades. None of her beauty and vividness have faded with the advancing years. She brings to this role, as with all of her other roles a lot of heartfelt emotion. She plays a war photographer who is at war with herself about her family responsibilities versus her commitment to her dangerous occupation.

Nicolas Costas Waldau is brilliant as her husband. A much more appealing character than his Game of Thrones one. The young actresses who play her daughters are also wonderful.

One thing I will say is that it's frustrating to watch her put herself in immediate danger. Especially seeing as she has such an idyllic home life with such a beautiful husband, children and a nice cottage in rural Ireland. I won't spoil it for you. It is a wonderful movie, if a little frustrating.

Griping drama about a war photographer who is caught between choosing her family or her work. Which we learn is a lot more complicated than we initially thought. The cast did a believable portrayal of the difficulties that people encounter in life between their passion and family. What I liked especially about this film was that the lead was not portrayed as some war hero and her story was not romanticized. The story and characters all felt realistic and convincing since the characters were different shades of gray. Something that is amiss these days within film making. There is always a need to create a struggle between good and evil. Probably one of the better stories I have seen this year. Erik Poppe you did a great job with this one!