the last movie i saw

With her sullen cheeks and detached gaze, it’s hard to believe the Kristin Scott Thomas we see in I’ve Loved You So Long is the same actress who stunned us in The English Patient 12 years ago. That actress was luminous and radiated an old Hollywood glamour. Her screen presence still held a distant, aristocratic coolness, one that went on to define her subsequent work in The Horse Whisperer and her underrated comic turn in Gosford Park. In this film, a probing French drama that moves at a clip, Scott Thomas leverages her chilly persona to create a fascinating character and deliver an unforgettable emotional wallop.

When we first meet Juliette (Scott Thomas), all we know is that she has just been released from prison and is moving to a French university town to live with her sister (an impressive Elsa Zylberstein) and her family. As we spend more time with Juliette, writer/director Philippe Claudel slowly and masterfully reveals the details of Juliette’s lengthy incarceration, all culminating in a shocking, devastating revelation in the film’s final moments. Until this explosive finale, though, the true drama and tension comes from what is not said and what Claudel keeps from his audience.

As we see Juliette listlessly confront the realities of rebuilding a life – finding a new job, meeting new people, reconnecting with forgotten relatives – her silence and indifference indicate the crippling repercussions of the crime she committed years ago. Each time she tries to reach out for human contact, most notably when she picks up a paramour in a café, she recoils at the slightest hint of a genuine connection. And while the film carries all the trappings of a Lifetime-worthy domestic drama – crime, bitterness, familial dysfunction – Claudel and his actors approach the material with subtle dignity.

Each member of the cast provides an intriguing characterization, but nobody leaves as distinct an impression as Scott Thomas. It’s a largely silent performance, especially during the film’s first two-thirds where Juliette is most acutely unable to forge a connection with anyone. Scott Thomas is able to convey a great deal of anguish, strife, and anger through her characters painful stoicism. It’s an intricate marvel. It certainly has been Scott Thomas’ year. She’s currently receiving raves for her performance in The Seagull on Broadway, and she delivered a funny, touching supporting performance in this summer’s fantastic Tell No One (also in French).