Violette (2013)
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col 139m
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier Gourmet, Jacques Bonnaffé, Catherine Hiegel
Synopsis:
Seven chapters cover the literary life of Violette Leduc, itself drawing on her sense of shame over her illegitimacy, her bisexual celibacy, her infatuation with Simone de Beauvoir. From her survival as a black marketeer after the war, through de Beauvoir's advocacy and her ultimate success as a feminist voice, we follow her slow, tortured progress towards self-love.
Review:
Meticulously staged and shot, though suffering like many films of limited budget from locations curiously devoid of people, this is above all an acting tour de force by Devos, who is in every scene. She whines, she complains, but she also fights for her right to happiness, and we stay with her for that. Provost inserts dream sequences and a spoof film production to relieve the monotony and flesh out the psychology, but the tone is murky and dreary until we get to Provence, which is as it should be.
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col 139m
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier Gourmet, Jacques Bonnaffé, Catherine Hiegel
Synopsis:
Seven chapters cover the literary life of Violette Leduc, itself drawing on her sense of shame over her illegitimacy, her bisexual celibacy, her infatuation with Simone de Beauvoir. From her survival as a black marketeer after the war, through de Beauvoir's advocacy and her ultimate success as a feminist voice, we follow her slow, tortured progress towards self-love.
Review:
Meticulously staged and shot, though suffering like many films of limited budget from locations curiously devoid of people, this is above all an acting tour de force by Devos, who is in every scene. She whines, she complains, but she also fights for her right to happiness, and we stay with her for that. Provost inserts dream sequences and a spoof film production to relieve the monotony and flesh out the psychology, but the tone is murky and dreary until we get to Provence, which is as it should be.
Country: FR/BEL
Technical: col 139m
Director: Martin Provost
Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Sandrine Kiberlain, Olivier Gourmet, Jacques Bonnaffé, Catherine Hiegel
Synopsis:
Seven chapters cover the literary life of Violette Leduc, itself drawing on her sense of shame over her illegitimacy, her bisexual celibacy, her infatuation with Simone de Beauvoir. From her survival as a black marketeer after the war, through de Beauvoir's advocacy and her ultimate success as a feminist voice, we follow her slow, tortured progress towards self-love.
Review:
Meticulously staged and shot, though suffering like many films of limited budget from locations curiously devoid of people, this is above all an acting tour de force by Devos, who is in every scene. She whines, she complains, but she also fights for her right to happiness, and we stay with her for that. Provost inserts dream sequences and a spoof film production to relieve the monotony and flesh out the psychology, but the tone is murky and dreary until we get to Provence, which is as it should be.