Les Paradis de Diane

The premise of the movie is exciting to say the least. I was eager to see it and how they handled this quite interesting and fairly unusual topic of post-natal depression (and/or all other possible mental conditions of the mother right after birth).

Unfortunately the movie fails to make the protagonist even slightly relatable. At the start there were a few attempts of showing things through her perspective but afterwards we left her realm and were just mere observers. As a result her actions seem very random and downright stupid at times (even when seen as mentally unstable). You keep waiting in vain for at least some sort of meaningful access to her inner world.

We follow her around in very prolonged meaningless scenes, there is almost no text in the whole movie and the little text is pseudo-deep.

So what disappointed me the most is that there is no true exploration of the topic. We follow her through all these different episodes but it feels random and contrived. Many scenes feel like they are only there to make the film artsy.

The actress is not bad per se but it seems she wasn't given anything to work with which ends up making this movie void of any emotion other than you wanting to leave the theatre. I was also at the Q&A at the Berlinale screening and the main actress basically admitted that she didn't know what she was doing and that no one knows what the character was supposed to feel.

So while the team seems nice and the project was surely with good intentions, it was a failure to portray the topic properly or of any lasting impression.

Some say that when a baby is born, a mother is also born. When Diane (Dorothée de Koon) exchanges caresses during with her partner, showing off her heavily pregnant belly, it is hard to imagine what will come next. When they focus on this gap in the body, showing it as a window of life, a specific tool for giving birth, Carmen Jaquier and Jan Gassmann do not do so in a romanticized way, but almost plastically, as if this part practically did not belong to Diane, possibly the beginning of her dissociation with the activity in progress. As Martin's (Roland Bonjour) wife and partner, there was another life surrounding her, and from the moment the little child reaches the world outside her womb, all the light seems to dim a little, her face becomes exhausted and the surroundings become suffocating, while the others celebrate the event somewhat out of focus. There is no despair, neither in the protagonist nor in the staging, when she decides to run away; on the contrary, there is a silent calm in her choice that manages to reconcile the sudden act with a solidified firmness.

After the birth of her baby girl, Diana flees the hospital. Her uncoordinated escape brings her to Benidorm.

I attended the premiere at the Berlinale. The Q & A with the directors and team reminded what an amazing group effort cinema is and how many professionals involved share their skills, ideas and passion.

The directors had been inspired by the post natal depression of a friend. They interviewed over 50 mothers with similar experiences. They aimed to approach the theme not as a medical file, yet as a strong personal story. In that, I find, they absolutely succeeded.

There are many reasons to go and see the movie. The cast is great and performs convincingly, Camera, lighting, editing and music are all top notch. Diane's escape is almost like a physical experience. Themes as blues / depression / psychosis, as well as our longing to be intimate versus not being able to give unconditional love will give the viewer food for thought and will inspire conversation.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, of course, is criticism. Over the years I have developed an allergy for tormented semi self centered proagonists, seemingly being stuck, with the focus on observation rather than possible answers to encourage growth. French cinema seems to have a lot of them, adding an extra cigarette here and an extra drink there, a marital crises in between and a chanson in the end.

A bit more medical file would have been welcome. Blues, depression and psychosis require different approaches. For me the movie falls short of ideas on how to give guidance in time of suffering. After a strong start there is too much room for French clichés.