7 ans

This film depicts a triangle that occurs when a young woman starts an affair with an employee where her husband is incarcerated. Hattu worked with Andre Téchiné on 'Wild Reeds' and 'Les Voleurs.' This is his first feature-length film. Maïté (Valerie Donzelli) faithfully visits her sexy, intense husband Vincent (Bruno Bruno Todeschini of Ozon's '5x2'), when she's spotted by a pale, pointy-faced man (Cyril Troley) who says he's there to visit his brother Jean. Having been advised by her nurse friend Djamila (Nadia Kaci) to take a lover, she consents to mechanical sex with Jean in a car. The relationship continues and intensifies. It's not till some time later that Maïté learns Jean is a guard at the prison, not a visitor, and that in fact he is friendly with Vincent and is making life easier for him. Maité's life revolves around this strange triangle; she gives up an opportunity to work in a beauty parlor to take care of Djamila's feisty little boy Julien (Pablo De La Torre) during the days. Another surprise comes latter.

For a film about deprivation, '7 Years' nonetheless manages to be brim-full of sensuality, gestures, words, smells expressing longing and excitement, and there are plenty of scenes of sex real and imaginary. The film's drollest aspect is that not only is Jean equally important in both Maïté and Vincent's lives, but to Jean himself, his relationship with Vincent seems as important as his relationship with Maïté. Half way through one begins to wonder: Is Jean bisexual? And his face has that longing, 'Taste of Honey' look. Suffice it to say, things get more and more intense -- and twisted, though in a quite logical way. This film is good at using limited means to arouse complicated emotions. It's a solid piece of work, but has nothing special about it to make it memorable. The plot structure is such that the story fizzles out somewhat at the end. The film feels like the product of a sophisticated tradition but also a somewhat exhausted one.

Shown as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival 2007 where '7 Years' received its West Coast premiere and was a contender for the SFIFF SKY Prize.

7 Years refers to the number of years that Vincent (Bruno Todeschini) is incarcerated in prison for a crime that isn't fully explained. And this film, written and directed by Jean-Pascal Hattu, allowed for a sneak peek into what could possibly be a non maximum-security prison, where inmates can be visited by their loved ones every week, and be up close and personal with them without the need for a plexi-glass in between. Such provision provides better interaction, and for his wife Maitre (Valerie Donzelli), it allowed for some physical intimacy when the wardens aren't looking.

Being separated by the law does put an unnatural strain in the relationship of husband and wife, though Maitre highlights her dutifulness in consistently visiting Vincent, and even attempts to smuggle him some drugs and anything he wishes for, in order to let him know she's there for him, and will abide by his instructions. However, life without her loved one does get boring, as we see her taking driving lessons, and hanging out with her best pal and looking after her child even.

Things start to go a little strange when she meets Jean (Cyril Troley) outside the prison, and begin to satisfy her lust. They meet regularly for trysts in his car, and one can imagine her surprise when it's revealed that Jean is actually a warden in the same prison that Vincent is serving time, and her husband has been receiving privileges. Thus begs the question whether her illicit relationship is fueling Vincent's easier life inside his cell, and whether welfare for Vincent would be degraded if she were to stop seeing Jean. It's entering some power play territory where sex is the commodity used as barter for another's welfare.

And Hattu's story goes one step further actually, in having Jean play the conduit between Maitre and Vincent, at times even suggesting that he might be a bisexual since Jean and Vincent's time together has nothing short of lingering looks filled with hidden secrets. Which of course brings to mind the recent storyline in Korean film Frozen Flower, involving the obeying instructions of one's lover, to lay with someone else, as a means to some ends as intended. Needless to say there are numerous sex scenes in the film, but they happen to be more mechanical rather than with emotion since it's used as a tool to fulfill desperate desires.

While the three leads put in excellent performances, ultimately they were let down by Hattu's story when it fizzled rather than sizzled toward the end, allowing the story to just fall apart without any clear resolution, leaving things rather hanging in the air.

Maïté's husband is in prison. For seven years (you get the title). We don't know why he's there but we know they miss each other a lot. Every short prison meeting is filled with "I love yous" and quite a bit of lust. But seven years is a long time. And there's that prison guard that starts to play an interesting role in their relationship.

All three lead actors are doing a good job in this film. The music was well selected. The cinematography is good. The director pays attention to details, which help. Speaking of the director, he was present at the North American premiere of his movie at the Toronto International Film Festival. After the screening, he answered some questions from the audience with the help of an interpreter. It was interesting to hear him talk about the importance of senses (smell, touch...) in his work. It was also nice to hear him talk about what was really important and what was not in the relationship between the three characters. Sometimes, we pay attention to things that we shouldn't. For this film, he told us that he met women whose husbands were in prison. He got inspired by their lives.

Overall then, not a great film, but surely a good way to spend a night at the movie. Seen during the Toronto International Film Festival, at the Varsity Cinemas, on September 8th, 2006.

79/100 (***)