Left to Right: Elsa Zylberstein as Léa and Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette in I've Loved You So Long, a French film directed by Philippe Claudel. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/ive-loved-you-so-long/34549/main
This was one of the best films I've seen this year. Some may find it slow moving but the story builds to a shattering, emotionally draining ending. Kristin Scott Thomas, a bilingual actress best known for The English Patient and Tell No One, a recent French version of a Harlan Coben mystery (which I thought was better than the novel), plays an ex-convict who comes to live with her younger sister, husband, his father, and their two adopted Vietnamese children. We slowly learn she's been released after incarcerated for 15 years. The details of her crime are gradually revealed as she begins to open up to people who want to help her. I won't reveal her crime but let's say you will be able to debate her motive and wish you will never be put in her predicament of making a horrible choice that will affect you for the rest of your life.
Thomas has been acclaimed for this performance and rightly so. Her character hides behind an impassive mask and each smile is a painful crack in her defense that took years to build. The sad vacancy in her eyes speaks volumes about her secrets as well as her lack of emotion and reticence in answering personal questions. Slowly through small doses of interaction with her nieces and others like her sympathetic probation officer and her sister's smiling father-in-law who can't speak because of a stroke, which is good for her since he can't ask prying questions, does she regain her humanity. Her final confrontation with her well-meaning sister well played by Elsa Zylberstein will rivet you in your seat. The rest of the cast is fine.
For those viewers who hate subtitles, there's not a lot to detract you from the story. What's not said can be read from the characters' faces.
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