Movie Review: The Truth (La vérité)

Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche star as an estranged mother and daughter in Hirokazu Kore-eda’a film, The Truth (Le vérité), an exquisite representation of repressed familial frustrations and emotional repression that tells an energetic tale of pseudo redemption between two women.

Writer/director Kore-eda’s latest film is a poignant portrayal of one family’s dynamics. Matriarch Fabienne (played with remarkable pathos by Deneuve) is an aging French film star beset with occasional lapses in memory who maintains a considerable presence in the world of cinema. Prior to the publication of Fabienne’s memoir, her daughter, Lumir (Binoche) visits from New York with her husband Hank (Ethan Hawke) and their daughter Charlotte (Clémentine Grenier). Consequently, mother and daughter engage in a stinging series of exchanges concerning each other’s conflicting recollections of the past that somehow eerily mirror the role Fabienne is currently playing in a science-fiction drama on whose set much of Kore-eda’s film takes place as the pair plod along their journey of discovery towards a possible accord.

The triumph of the film lies in Deneuve’s almost effortless performance of a woman at a major crossroads in her personal and professional life. She brings an earnest quality to the role that enlivens it in such a way that makes her character’s situation easily relatable. Similarly, Binoche more than matches Deneuve’s performance, making Lumir a sympathetic character beset by childhood demons that never allowed her to fully understand her mother, nor her motivations. Both women come to terms with similar issues and eventually seem to find a common ground on which they can both move forward, in a way at least.

Juliette Binoche and Catherine Deneuve in “The Truth” (“La vérité”). © 3B

Writer/director Kore-eda maintains a tight control over the familial drama as it unfolds throughout the film. The interweaving of the aforementioned sci-fi film that Fabienne is shooting is particularly engaging as a subplot involving the star of that film possibly being groomed as the next Fabienne adds another layer of angst and emotional upheaval to the journey Fabienne is undertaking and Lumir is witness to. The script, written by Kore-eda as well, moves effortlessly through the many issues plaguing the characters throughout, while still allowing for the development and growth of the mother/daughter relationship as it reaches a “sort-of” conclusion.

Without question, the triumph of The Truth is Catherine Deneuve’s seemingly simple, yet thoroughly impressive performance as the film’s lead. But, coupling that with a nuanced portrayal of the emotionally damaged daughter by Juliette Binoche, allows Kore-eda’s film to fire on all cylinders and deliver an astounding showcase for an impressive cadre of talented performers.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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