Deux

An ageing couple, having guarded their relations over many years suddenly find themselves separated and unable to stay as one. Two sublime performances from the leading ladies make this an outstanding and powerful piece of storytelling to be savoured.

One of that seductive films in wich a smart script is served, with gentle elegance, by admirable performances. Rare chemistry between lead characters, splendid work of Martine Chevallier and Barbara Sukowa, magnificent exploration of nuances and flavors, intimacy and grace of a closed long term sentimental relation and a sort of intimacy real magnificent served scene by scene. Tensions and a stroke changing everything. A delicate subject and seductive art to explore it in profound manner. A film about love, apparences, emotions, feelings and two women making fundamental choice. And sure, about truth, to. So, most simple suggestion can be only to see it .

The French film Deux was shown in the U.S. with the title Two of Us (2019). It was co-written and directed by Filippo Meneghetti.

Barbara Sukowa portrays Nina Dorn, whose long-term lesbian lover is Madeleine (Mado) Girard. (Madeline is played by Martine Chevallier.) The women have remained closeted for all these years. They share adjoining apartments, so they can be together but not literally live together. Mado suffers a stroke, and the plot of the film follows from there.

Barbara Sukowa is a famed German actor, and she is superb in her role. (In the movie, she's originally from Germany, so her accented French is not a problem.) I wasn't familiar with Martine Chevallier, but she is well known in France for both movie and stage acting. She and Sukowa have a true screen chemistry, which makes the movie even better.

I enjoyed this movie because it gave a view of what it means to be closeted partners when you grow old. I felt a few of Nina's actions were uncharacteristic and not realistic within the context of the film. However, overall I found Deux to be very moving and powerful.

We saw Deux as part of the wonderful ImageOut, the Rochester LGBT Festival. (Virtual this year, but great as always.) Deux has a pretty good IMDb rating of 7.2. I thought it was better than that, and rated it 9.

Brilliant and well shot, beautiful images of beautiful women... A very moving story of two women hiding to their families they love each other until the day they have to tell the truth and stop hiding. A vibrant tribute to love, a must watch !!!

Nina Dorn (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine Girard (Martine Chevallier) are neighbors and secret lovers. They plan to sell Madeleine's apartment and travel together. Only Madeleine is having trouble coming out to her adult children, Anne and Frédéric.

This movie has many long uncut scenes. It's an artistic choice from this first time feature director. The first noticeable use is the burning skillet. It's a very effective move especially when it denotes Nina's slowly building longing. This is more romantic and more tragic than any puppy love teenagers. It is a quiet emotional drama of devastating power. I might do a more tragic ending although this ending is very beautiful. Only, I would consider adding a slow dance scene to start the movie. This is the tragic beauty of true love.