Movie Number 20 of 2026
The Movie: A Private Life (Vie Privee)
The Cinema: Hoyts, Victoria Gardens
Runtime: One hour 47 minutes
Mostly in French with English Subtitles
Stars: 3.75
Jodie Foster is enigmatic. She's also a polyglot, speaking French like it's her mother tongue. I saw an interview with her on breakfast television the other day, advertising this film. It's the first time she's done a whole film in French (however, she's often found doing the dubbing for her English speaking films.) Curious, I wanted to have a look. the film also has Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric and Irene Jacob, I was in.
Besides, any chance to use my French is never a bad thing.
According to IMDB.com, the plot goes something like this.
"The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered."
This is not the world's best film - it's a bit slow, it's a bit strange and it's a bit convoluted. I went with Jay and she said she was bored.
Me, on the other hand - I'm a bit more forgiving.
A perfect film - no. A French film, with an ambling plot? Yes.
Of course, I was won over by the opening credits of the film where the bass like of Psycho Killer plays. We learn soon that Lillian (Jodie Foster) is a psychiatrist and a pain in the arse. A reluctant mother and grandmother. A tetchy therapist, she tapes her sessions on mini-discs. When one of her clients turns up dead, allegedly by suicide, she's certain that she wouldn't have done that and goes on a journey to work out just what is happening.
She's thrown out of the shiva by her client's husband (Mathieu Amalric), enlists the assistance of her ex-husband (Daniel Auteuil) and appears to become a little unhinged in the process.
This isn't a perfect thriller, but it had enough to keep me going. Seeing Paris in Autumn is never a bad thing. Foster's French is incredible. There are some very funny moments in the film. The client who's trying to give up smoking is a gift that keeps on giving over the film. I liked the relationship she had going with her ex. Foster and Auteuil had a wonderful comfortable chemistry.
I left happy. I know that the film doesn't show what a real psychiatrist does (One of Jay's complaints) and it didn't seem to make sense in places. Regardless, I'm pleased to have seen this - if anything, to air out my French and get some language into my ears.
This is a stylish, fast-paced and occasionally misguided thriller. There was enough for me to enjoy on a wet Sunday afternoon. You can't ask for more that.
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