Um amor impossível

I did not seek out this film.

Watched it one Sunday afternoon on BBC iPlayer.

I was feeling unwell and thought it looked gentle enough. There was no write up, so did not know what to expect.

It was a fine, intelligent film; Rachel was a wonderful character, I liked and understood her. It is this factor that sustains the film throughout. The two hours or so passed quickly; one becomes heavily invested in the central character.

One is left with no doubt about Phillippe from the start, he is not ordinary and totally narcissistic. Therein lies the reason for, what sometimes seems like, his unfathomable hold over Rachel. This is not about class differences or anything as mundane as that keeping lovers apart, this is about a true narcissist's manipulation of a trusting and loving girl / woman.

When adult Chantel, Rachel and Philippe's daughter, confronts Rachel at the end, Rachel's answer is believable; she simply did not conceive that the problems in their mother and daughter relationship, during Chantel's teenage years, was anything other than that she, Rachel, was simply not good enough.

I am trying not to give anything away, just watch the film and see it play out. Just remember that it is Rachel's life you are watching unfolding.

Sometimes things are not as we think. This movie is an example of that. What starts with a very ordinary story develops into an adventure of drama. We have seen the story, the beginning of the film many, many times before; boy meets girl, they fall in love, but can not marry due to class differences. But this issue is only used as a starting point in this gripping, well-played and engaging film. The film depicts people, main characters in an era, and masterfully manages to follow developments. For my own part, it was also demanding to watch, first and foremost to understand why Rachel played by Virginie Efira makes the choices she makes in the film. This is how good film should be like. Challenge us and give us insight into choices others choose to make. I now understand that I have to check out the other films director Catherine Corsini has made. At least she has succeeded greatly in this wonderful film.

An impeccable film held together by astonishing performances and a very understated direction. I don't know if I am biased because French is my first language, but I found the film so incredibly real. Even at the lengthy runtime, I barely felt it. Corsini is at the top of their career with this film!

I came to this film with no prior knowledge of it (I didn't even realise it was going to be in French until I started watching) and so had no preconceived ideas about it. So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hooked by the storyline from quite an early stage and captivated throughout - perhaps not the easiest of tasks for a lengthy subtitled film (my French is somewhat lacking).

Essentially a woman's account of the relationship between her parents (from their first meeting) and herself (from birth through to adulthood), the story is full of twists and frequently wrong-footed me as to just where it was going to head next, even though the progression of events was generally logical and believable.

Telling its story over the course of decades, I was glad it didn't fall into the usual trap of trying to ram the styles and fads of each period down the viewer's face. The gradual aging of the characters, always a tricky thing for filmmakers to get right, was remarkably convincing too.

Although I'd like to comment on certain specifics of the plot, which can be hard and uncompromising at times (as indeed the effects of human love can be), that would only serve to reduce this film's capacity to surprise the first-time viewer. However, Virginie Efira gives a terrific central performance as Rachel, the woman who spends her whole adult life providing love but finding precious little of it reciprocated. Yes, some might question the rather one-note tone of Rachel's behaviour throughout and the manner in which she just accepts the metaphorical kicks in the teeth without histrionics, but I think it works in this context. Some people are like that and the lack of any reactionary aggression on Rachel's part emphasises how cruelly she is treated, and also demonstrates how being passive does not necessarily always achieve the best outcomes.

The plot is overloaded with all sorts of personal, psychological, familial malfunctions. It ends up tiring you rather than entertain or make one think. The development of the characters is a bit predictable even though they have many different hardships to undergo. The acting is excellent without an exception and the aesthetics of the film is brilliant. I'd say it's like a crush test for yourself to see how you'll react and what you think intuitively about all that's going on.