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I've Loved You So Long (2008)

Director: Philippe Claudel

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4 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Chicago

It’s impossible to explain what makes I’ve Loved You So Long such a fraud without giving away the ending—and since the ending is the focal point of all interest in the film, that doesn’t seem entirely fair. Consider yourself warned: The movie comes swaddled in tasteful silences and literary pretensions (it’s novelist Claudel’s directorial debut), but it invests everything it has in its gotcha conclusion—which isn’t even that big of a gotcha and which manages
to be not only shameless but wildly implausible.

The story, such as it is, concerns Juliette (a French-speaking Scott Thomas), a doctor who’s been released from jail after 15 years and is taken in by her sister, Léa (Zylberstein). Mild spoilers commence ici: It’s soon revealed that Juliette has been in prison for murdering her son. Why would you kill your son, Juliette? She never says, despite numerous opportunities, preferring instead to stare plaintively into the distance. Léa’s friends wonder why Léa never mentioned a sister before; Léa’s husband (Hazanavicius) won’t trust Juliette with their kids.

But the only place for the movie to go is to ask, Why? The answer, when it comes, makes the martyr portraits of Dreyer and von Trier seem like documentary realism

Author: Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out Chicago Issue 192: October 30–November 5, 2008

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User reviews of this film

  • sharry said...
    Posted on May 23 2010 22:04 i think the movie was amazing. your opinon is your opinion, but it doesn't speak for everyone. it was extremely touching
    Report as inappropriate
  • lee said...
    Posted on Dec 03 2008 16:29 why would u give away a major component of the story just because u don't like it........get another job.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Rob said...
    Posted on Nov 24 2008 08:50 I couldn't agree more. 95% tease -- so why did she do it ... why did she do it ???... WHY DID SHE DO IT, ALREADY????!!!! Then the entirely unrealistic explanation.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Jane said...
    Posted on Oct 31 2008 17:00 Your review describes exactly my experience with the film. Boring and terribly implausible. The acting was interesting, the screenplay sucked.
    Report as inappropriate
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I've Loved You So Long

Cast & crew

Director: Philippe Claudel

Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius full cast

Rated: PG-13

Duration: 112 mins

US Release: Oct 24 2008

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