I've Loved You so Long - Kristin Scott Thomas in a Tour De Force Performance

Matt Damon, when he was on "Inside The Actor's Studio," said that if you want to win an Oscar, you have to do the flashiest role possible. It has to be a role with big dramatic moments where you are crying out to the heavens because that's what the Academy seems to love and respond to the most. Matt also said that the performances where the actors don't ever make it look like they are acting, where they seem so subtle in their actions, represent the best kind of acting to him, and they never get nominated. There is a lot of truth to what he said as the most dramatic roles that do win Oscars are almost operatic in the emotions that pour out. This is not to take away from actors who have won Oscars, be it Kate Winslet or Sean Penn, for they did do tremendous work in their individual films. But looking back, I think Damon made a great point. Some of the best acting on film involves actors inhabiting to where they suck you in so much that it almost makes you forget that you are watching a movie.

This certainly seems to be the case with Kristin Scott Thomas' incredible performance as Juliette Fontaine in "I've Loved You So Long," for it was far and away one of the best performances given by any actor in 2008. Perhaps best known for her role in "The English Patient," Kristin more than inhabits a character who is forever trapped by a moment in time that no one around her will ever let go of. With this role, it's the moments where she doesn't say anything that speak volumes. While she does not try to make the character likable or remotely warm, her eyes speak of a pain that will never heal, and she remains empathetic throughout.

When we first meet up with Juliette, she is sitting in an airport, smoking the first of many cigarettes she will smoke throughout the movie's running time (the film is French), waiting to be picked up by her younger sister Lea. We soon find out that Juliette has just been released from prison after 15 years, and later on we find out that she had murdered her own son. The details of this unspeakable crime remain murky to those who want to get closer to her, and the movie spends its time peeling back the layers of how and why it occurred. To know everything that happened at the start of the film would have made it nowhere as interesting.

The time she spent in prison has more than hardened Juliette to the world around her, and she is not looking to make new friendships. Her parents have completely disowned her because of what she did, and Lea's husband Luc does not want Juliette around their adopted children. Being fully aware of what she has done, Luc does not trust Juliette in the slightest. But Juliette is more than prepared for this reaction from others and fully expects it too, so she starts off by pushing people away. She sees this chance reuniting with her younger sister as something forced on her, and she makes that clear to Lea early on. But Lea is keen on being there for Juliette regardless of what she has been led to believe about her. There is clearly more to Juliette than meets the eye, and the movie has us following her all the way to a startling revelation.

There's not enough that can be said about Kirstin's performance in "I've Loved You So Long." It is a performance that doesn't just call attention to herself, and it illustrates how the most subtle of actions can be the most powerful. Regardless of how determined Juliette is in alienating those who try to get closer to her, there is a need in her eyes that cries out to be understood even if she doesn't want to admit it. She draws us into the life of a character that, from a distance, we would immediately despise based on her crime. But the writer/director of "I've Loved You So Long" creates a film where we want to spend time with her and the people around her so that we can come to an understanding of why she would commit such a horrendous deed. It also shows that what we say about what she was convicted ends up defining who we are as people let alone individuals. Life is a big pain in that ass that way.

Kristin is also perfectly matched with Elsa Zylberstein who plays Juliette's sister Lea. Her character has been told different things about Juliette, most of them understandably negative, but she sees Juliette as someone deserving of her support. In the end, they are family, and Lea's family is really the only one that Juliette has left. Elsa creates a strong female character who stands her ground in what she believes, and while Juliette pushes her away, Lea remains fiercely protective of her.

The film was written and directed by Philippe Claudel who is a novelist who wrote "Grey Souls," a book about the murder of a young girl in a small French town. Philippe seems very interested not only in uncovering the mystery of such a horrific crime, but in the effect it has on the people who live in proximity to what occurred. Juliette's sister Lea is desperate to keep her crime a secret from her friends as she fears Juliette will immediately be ostracized. While some are completely repelled at Juliette for what she did, the reactions of a few others are very interesting as they have been exposed to lives in prison in a whole other way. Juliette does strike up a nice friendship with one of Lea's professor friends who sees her in a whole different light after her admission of what she did. While others might turn away from her, he comes across as sympathetic as he knows that experiencing what happens behind bars is never something you can walk away from.

Philippe gives the movie a very natural setting to where it feels like you are seeing a reality unfolding before you. You never just feel like you are watching a movie when you see "I've Loved You So Long." Most other movies like this (particularly American ones) tend to play up the operatic emotions of the story to where you can feel like you are just being mercilessly manipulated. But as a director, Philippe makes you a witness to what is going on, and he never forces you to have the same judgments of Julia that others do. Indeed, he shows how there is more to people and events than what is on the surface, and he gives us an intriguing movie that has us wanting to know more about its main character.

The movie also has a nice yet sparse music score by Jean-Louis Aubert which is mainly him playing his electric guitar. The simple chords that Jean-Louis produces easily and powerfully illustrate the complex emotions embedded in each of the characters, especially Juliette whose process of re-entering a world that sees her more as a devil than a person we know will be no easy task. It captures the pain in her eyes which betrays her true feelings that have haunted her for so very long. A lot of movies like these typically overdo it with an emotionally overwhelming orchestral score designed to pull at our heartstrings to make us feel a certain way. It almost sounds like shock therapy the more you think about it. So it's nice to see a composer simply illustrate the emotions that are already in front of us on the big screen instead of just forcing us to feel what is already there.

The movie's climax which tears away at the truth of what actually happened the night Juliette's son died would seem like such a forced ending in an American movie. You know, a way to tidy things up to make us feel a little better when we exited the theater. Those kind of endings always feel like a big cheat. But this one stayed with me long after the movie ended as it leaves us with questions as to why Juliette reacted the way she did. How it affects her crime may or may not change the way you feel about the character, but it is a credit to Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, and Philippe Claudel that they pulled it off the way they did and still had us feeling for Juliette. There is no easy closure with a story like this, and instead we are left with the feeling that it is time to move on from the past, and to deal with the present tense. It's just that some people have an easier time of doing that more than others. Some cannot escape a moment of time anymore than they can erase it.

While it's a shame that Kristin Scott Thomas didn't get a Best Actress nomination for her work here, it is hard to think of what actress you could take out of that category from the Oscars because they were all brilliant in their individual performances (Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and Kate Winslet). It's tempting to take Streep out of the running because she has won a gazillion acting awards to where she would much rather see someone else take the trophy. Jolie is tempting to take off the list, but that's mainly because I still have not seen "The Changeling" (I know, I know, shame on me). I certainly don't want to take away from their performances as they do have some emotionally strong moments that speak for themselves without the aid of an effusive film score, but I agree with Matt Damon in that some of the best acting comes from actors who make it look like they are not acting. It's easier said than done, inhabiting a character as opposed to just playing one, and that makes Thomas all the more deserving of whatever acting accolades people were kind enough to bestow on her.

My parents have been begging me for ages to see this movie, and it really helped that it was showing nearby at the New Beverly Cinema. "I've Loved You So Long" would actually make a nice double feature with "Rachel Getting Married" as they both are dramatically strong stories that deal with characters who are forever trap by a horrible deed than no one around him will ever let them forget. Both are great movies that deal with themes of death and life, and that how we react to them informs us of the kind of people we are. The more complex the character, the more fascinating their stories and the movies they inhabit will be.

"I've Loved You So Long" is a French movie that of course didn't get much of a release as is the case with foreign movies here. It's definitely worth a rental if you are interested in more dramatic fare and great performances. It is now out on DVD, so check it out when you have the chance if you haven't already.

**** out of ****