In 1995 Richard Linklater wrote and directed the delightful Before Sunrise, a film consisting of little more than a man and woman wandering around Vienna discussing the meaning of life and love. Nine years later its star Julie Delpy wrote a powerful, surprisingly profound sequel, Before Sunset, with her and Ethan Hawke walking the streets of Paris this time. That was pretty much the full stop on talkie films with a couple wandering around a pretty location wondering what it all means until now, with Kiarostamis variation on the theme.
The picturesque setting is Tuscany, the couple are Binoches Elle and Shimells James Miller, and the set-up is slightly different. Instead of them meeting as strangers, Elle goes to hear Millers lecture on the book he has just had published, a book that we learn was not well received in England. Basically its idea and the idea of the film, it turns out is that copies of precious artworks, like the statues on Florence of David, are just as valuable as the real thing. The original idea is a thing of the past.
Elles son twigs why she is so enthralled by Millers presentation, he claims she wants to fall in love with him and he apparently is bang on, when Elle offers to take Miller out for a Sunday drive through lovely Tuscany. They debate his book, its ideas, and she flirts with him endlessly while he remains passive, aloof. They wander around a tiny village, drink coffee, have an argument in a restaurant over a bottle of wine, meet a charming French couple, witness a wedding and end up in a hotel room. But all is not as it seems beware the unreliable narrator.
Without wanting to give away too much, the films basic theme is something of a cheat it has an inconsistency in its internal logic that is clearly meant to be mysterious and twisty but may leave many viewers frustrated. Put simply it doesnt play fair, but if you can swallow the huge leap of faith there is much to debate and discuss.
Binoche won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival and its easy to see why. She runs through the whole gamut of emotions, from coy fan to upset mother to frustrated lover to possible divorcee. At one point there is a hint of mental illness, but like many things in the film it never resolves itself satisfactorily. The director is clearly determined to get his moneys worth from her, lingering on her face for minutes at a time, and giving her cleavage a good workout as well. Shimell is an opera star who had never made a film before, and frankly at times it shows. His performance as a crusty Englishman is stiff and wooden, and overdoes the coldness the character requires. We need to be given a reason why Binoches character would fall for him so completely, and there is not much there. In the restaurant scene he tips over into melodrama far too quickly, and his boiling rage over a corked bottle of wine is simply bizarre.
Sometimes the words Cannes winner and world cinema send people running for the hills, and all too often that is unfair. This however is just the sort of over-enigmatic, talky piece that gives these films that reputation. Some will love entering its world, others will see it as pretentious and irritating.
Overall verdict: Slightly corny, over-written and under-plotted mood piece that will divide viewers, with a huge central performance from Binoche and little else to enjoy.
Reviewer: Mike Martin