It's not a "feel good " movie ,even though the director felt compelled to include several scenes of that genre in what is finally a somber psychological drama .
The great character actress Ariane Ascaride,who has
often worked with her partner ,the talented (and leftist) director Robert Guédiguian , as always ,shines; from whispers to screams ,she runs the whole gamut of emotions:from rebellion to reluctantly coming to terms with bereavement.
The first third of the movie is almost faultless: the old couple, looking forward to having their family for lunch, the unexpected sudden death,the dead body under the bed , the lunch during which Odile conceals the unspeakable truth ,the discovery of a teenager ,the secret he shares with his grannie ; even though it may be implausible to some, Odile 's behavior, in her own way ,makes sense : it's hard to accept the sudden death of a dear one overnight, when nothing could predict such a tragedy ;In your mind , he is always present ,and the other ones must believe he's still living , even though he's not present:to prolongate the family life at it was ,to postpone the ineluctable. When the whole family discovers what their grandma wanted to conceal ,they react according to their own sensibility.
And things begin to deteriorate beyond that point ,although there are a couple of good scenes ahead, essentially due to Ascaride , strongly supported by Berenice Bejo (oscar-winner Jean Dujardin's co-star in "the artist"). Stephane Brel ,as the selfish Mathieu ,more preoccupied by his career ,is not bad either ,and Christophe Odent gives a restrained buut effective performance.
But Marilou Aussilou , all smile,and doing her sexy act ,along with Thomas Scimeca ,looking like a hippie of the seventies ,provides the movie with its nadir: their naked dance in the meadow should have been edited out : the actress is particularly out of tune ,and I had to turn down the sound while they were playing around in the country.
But the hard subject of bereavement is ,by and large ,off the beaten track ;for her first movie,Camille Japy did an estimable work ,helped by her Ascaride /Bejo's duet performance.
