Sweet Song

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Ian W @RT67985106 Feb 12, 2023 Strange film. Although the tension builds, it's not exactly edge of your seat stuff. Quite a shocking ending nevertheless. See more Jul 3, 2022 Strong performances from all concerned; assured direction from Borteleau coupled with Alexis Kavyrchine's keen cinematography and a deft edit from Laurence Briaud. This is a slow-burn, episodic drama. Borleteau's understated wit at the opening, and perpetual parsing of viewpoints — including those of both infants — allows just enough tension to build from, at first, the subtlest of lapses. Fractionally odd reactions evolve into isolated moments of inappropriate behaviour which become, spasmodically but increasingly, bizarre — and Viard is predictably electric, remaining almost po-faced until very close to the finale whilst giving us the truest understanding of the life-giving draw of a stable family for which this single older woman, who has somehow come to lose her own husband and daughter, clearly aches. I have to say, it kept me gripped. I have not read the book (nor researched the original case which took place in New York in 2012), so cannot comment on how faithful this film is to either. But it does seem to me that many Anglophone critics have been unduly harsh, implying an inferior take on classic movie tropes. My palate may be less jaded as I never saw "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" to which many refer; and maybe some post-Me-Too elements of deconstruction just fly over my head? (To be fair, I predict low scores on the Bechdel test.) French reviewers seem largely impressed. I will add that Borteleau has chosen a tale that also reverses certain modern clichés: nanny Louise is neither young nor foreign — a slightly older white woman with surprisingly mid-C20th attitudes toward child-rearing and thrift which unnerve her young, cosmopolitan employers; and this tale unfolds in relentlessly straight sequence — start to finish, with no flashbacks and few jump cuts. We must live it alongside (flitting between) each of the protagonists, and form our own opinion. If you are prepared to take it on its own terms — especially if intrigued by subtle explorations of mental or emotional disturbance — you won't be disappointed. See more Read all reviews

Sweet Song

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