By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Starring: Catherine Deneuve | Clémentine Grenier | Ethan Hawke | Juliette Binoche
Original language title: La vérité
Country: france, japan, switzerland
Year: 2020
Running time: 106
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8323120/reference
Michael says: “Hirokazu Koreeda goes to France and assembles an international cast including Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, and Ethan Hawke, but sticks close to his favorite theme of family. In this case it’s the strained relationship between a mother, Fabienne, star of French cinema, and a daughter, Lumir, a screenwriter, now living in New York with her husband and daughter. You see, Fabienne has just published her memoirs which has caused some additional friction in the relationship. She’s also starring in new science fiction film where her own mother never grows old, unearthing her own insecurities about aging and her relationship with her own daughter.
It’s clearly a role that fits Catherine Deneuve to a T, and she really runs with it, playing with her own versions of the truth, bulldozing through her world with a self-centeredness that only a true diva possesses. Binoche is terrific as Lumir, bringing all her confidence as an actor and playing a complex woman who is alternatively adoring and frustrated by her challenging mother. Two powerful women who must get past their own strengths to reach each other. Koreeda is a master of familial relationships, and working in a language other than his own doesn’t diminish the power of the story. The presentation is a bit broader than his usual, restrained style, but when you’re dealing with “stars” that is only appropriate. Another triumph from the master. 4 cats”
Chris says: “Kore-eda’s first feature outside his native Japan is at the very least a more successful left turn than THE THIRD MURDER, his recent foray into courtroom procedural; in fact, the Parisian setting and international cast hardly disrupt the style and flow of his usual familial dramas, although it occasionally results in an agreeable, if slightly tentative recalibration. It’s centered on an ex-pat daughter (Juliet Binoche) and her husband (Ethan Hawke) visiting her Famous Aging Actress mother (Catherine Deneuve) as the latter takes on a challenging new film role; daughter also confronts mom on her new memoir, whose ‘bending’ of various facts alludes to this film’s title.
“This is as grand showcase for Deneuve, embodying a caustic, outspoken diva with relish and an earned regality; the other standout here is young Clémentine Grenier, a natural in her film debut as Binoche and Hawke’s thoughtful, curious daughter. Rest assured, this feels like a Kore-eda film through and through; happily, it mostly intrigues rather than jars to see his sensibility inhabit and adjust to another culture. It’s not a masterpiece like his previous work SHOPLIFTERS, but an encouraging first step into a new career phase, perhaps. 4 cats”