Always Good Movies

Direction: Stephane Brizé
Country: France

Adopting a realism redolent of Ken Loach, French director Stephane Brizé keeps aiming at social injustices, questioning the ferocity and blind cruelty of modern corporations. With the contribution of dedicated actor Vincent Lindon, he concludes a sort of ‘work trilogy’, which began in 2015 with The Measure of a Man and proceeded with At War in 2018. Another World marks the fifth collaboration between the director and the actor.

Philippe Lemesle (Lindon) and his wife Anne (Sandrine Kiberlain) are about to divorce. They have two children: Juliette, who lives abroad, and Lucas (Anthony Bajon), who is going through serious emotional and mental problems. Philippe has been working his ass off as a corporate executive and barely has time for the family. His reputation is high, but the pressure becomes unbearable when he’s given a layoff plan demanding the sacrifice of 58 loyal employees. He can no longer find coherence in the system he’s been committed to for years.

Brizé and his co-screenwriter Olivier Gorce excel in pointing out this business language where the meaning of the word "courage" is tendentiously twisted. One still finds shades of a certain melodramatic complacency, especially regarding the protagonist’s personal life, but the film leaves such a strong impression that we easily forget that aspect.

Lindon is just perfect; we see him and we believe it. His performance is well supplemented by TV and radio journalist Marie Drucker as a cold and intransigent boss. A successful first theatrical appearance for her. Another World is another product of Brizé’s mature social observation.

Direction: Claire Denis
Country: France

Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche perform together for the first time in Both Sides of the Blade, a heart-in-the-sleeve romantic drama that flutters with the psychological adjustments and frustration of complex adult relationships. They are Jean and Sara, respectively, a couple living happily together for nine years. He, a man of few words with a son from a previous marriage, is an ex-con and former professional rugby player; she is a radio personality full of life and very supportive of him. Their life together takes an unexpected turn, starting to crumble in front of their eyes, when François (Grégoire Colin), Jean’s once best friend and Sara’s ex-lover, returns to town after a long absence, rekindling certain feelings that are impossible to control.

It’s understandable why the actors were attracted to director Claire Denis’ script, as it gives them opportunities to go deep in emotion. The French director, whose past work includes Beau Travail (1999), 38 Shots of Rum (2008), Let the Sunshine In (2017) and High Life (2018), worked together with the novelist Christine Angot, inflicting gravitas and depth in the adaptation of the latter’s 2018 book Un Tournant de la Vie. Despite the familiarity of the topic, the film doesn’t succumb to any identity crisis. In her sober way, Denis depicts this de-romantization with steady tinges of doubt and pathos and keeps it zipping along to a sad conclusion.

Painful into-the-lens confessions bolster the tone with a desperate, beseeching stare, while Tindersticks’ wistful song, which gave the film its title, cuts to the heart as soon as the final credits roll. It’s one of those cerebral love triangles that does not resolve in any form.