Both Sides of the Blade
Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon star as a middle-aged couple whose past catches up with them in Claire Denis’ romantic mystery.
Second thoughts: Juliette Binoche
The French director Claire Denis has many ardent admirers and it is perhaps right for me to begin my review of her latest film by acknowledging that I have often had decidedly mixed responses to her work. However, if Both Sides of the Blade arouses conflicting reactions in me, it is not due to any doubts about what she does as its director. Indeed, in that respect this film contains some of her best work to date and scores highly on many fronts. As was the case with 35 Shots of Rum (2008), Denis has a wonderful instinct for capturing the atmosphere of Paris including its suburbs. The colour photography of Eric Gautier adds to this and the flow of the film indicates a close liaison between Denis and the film’s editors. Furthermore, Denis appears fully in harmony with her highly talented cast who are on fine form. No wonder, then, that for much of the time I was hopeful that Both Sides of the Blade might prove to be a fully-fledged masterpiece.
The fact that I ended up being disappointed by it stems entirely from the way in which the material develops. The screenplay credit is shared by Denis herself and Christine Angot but, since the source of it is a novel by Angot, it may be apt to regard her as the person mainly responsible. The first two-thirds of Both Sides of the Blade is compelling as it portrays the emotions experienced by Sara (Juliette Binoche) who works in Paris as an interviewer for a radio station. For ten years or more she has been married to Jean (Vincent Lindon) but before that she had been the lover of François (Grégoire Colin) and early on in the film she happens to glimpse him in the street. Binoche marvellously conveys the emotional impact of seeing him again. It's a reaction so deep and instinctive that it suggests that what she had regarded as over and done with still burns (at one time the film which takes its title from the lyrics of a song heard over the closing credits was known by a different title, Fire).
It so happens that Jean’s life has become difficult. A former rugby player, he suffered an injury that ended his sporting career and the fact that he has a prison record for an offence committed when he was working with François means that he has difficulty in finding work. Nevertheless, Sara fully stands by her husband and regularly assures Jean that she loves him. Way back François had disappeared from the lives of both of them, but now he has returned and has plans to open an agency that scouts players for clubs. He asks Jean to join him in running it. We have already sensed that François may well have been underhand when letting Jean take the blame for what had caused him to land in jail. However, this new post that is being offered would in its own way bring Jean back into the sporting world that he loves and after some thought he decides that he will accept. It is, though, a decision that brings François back into close contact with Sara as well as with Jean.
The fascination that one finds in Both Sides of the Blade lies in the film's ability to present in Sara and Jean two characters who are wholly believable but whose words may not tally with what they really feel. In the case of Sara, the viewer is quickly drawn in to ponder exactly what is going on. Back in 1965 the late Agnès Varda made a memorable film, Le Bonheur, which studied a man who found himself genuinely in love with two women at the same time. Here we see Sara as a woman who may suddenly be finding herself in the same position as she gradually realises that she still loves François despite her commitment to Jean. Or is it that every reassurance that she gives to Jean is a lie? If so, is it deliberate or is she to some extent deceiving herself? Similarly, when it comes to Jean, he is often at pains not to be seen as controlling his wife's actions but is he hiding his real feelings? How much he is playing a role when adopting this stance is open to question.
Having been critical of the 2017 film Let the Sunshine In which also found Denis and Christine Angot sharing the credit for the screenplay, I was surprised and delighted to find how brilliantly their new screenplay captured all the complexities and ambivalences inherent in this story. The only imperfection to emerge relatively early on is the sense that a sub-plot involving the troubled teenage son of Jean’s first marriage, the mixed-race Marcus (Issa Perica), fits rather clumsily into the narrative rather than finding a natural place there. But that aspect comes with a consolation: the youth is living in Vitry with Jean’s mother and older viewers will be delighted to discover that the role of the mother is played by that fondly remembered veteran actress Bulle Ogier.
With so much working so well, I regretted strongly the way in which the last third of the film moved away from being a subtle character study of Sara and Jean and became instead a portrayal of a relatively standard romantic triangle. It's not helped by the fact that, as written, François is not a fully realised character but one rather vaguely drawn. Even more significant than that is the way in which the tone of the work veers into melodrama. The confrontations and changes in attitude which fuel these late scenes quite lack for me the conviction of what has preceded them. I find it difficult to know to what extent this reaction may be a purely personal one. It certainly caused me to reduce my rating for the film drastically, but others may find the later scenes convincing. My best advice would be to see the film and decide for yourself because so much of it is deeply impressive and both Binoche and Lindon are at the top of their game.
Original title: Avec amour et acharnement.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lindon, Grégoire Colin, Bulle Ogier, Issa Perica, Mati Diop, Lola Créton, Pierre Hiessler, Hind Darwich, Lilian Thuram.
Dir Claire Denis, Pro Olivier Delbosc and James Benjamin Shannan, Screenplay Claire Denis and Christine Angot, from Christine Angot’s novel Un tournament de la vie, Ph Eric Gautier, Pro Des Arnaud de Moleron, Ed Sandie Bompar, Guy Lucerne and Emmanuelle Pencalet, Music Stuart Staples and Tindersticks, Costumes Judy Shrewsbury.
Curiosa Films/Canal+/Ciné+/ Cinema 15/Cofinova 17-Curzon.
117 mins. France. 2022. US Rel: 8 July 2022. UK Rel: 9 September 2022. Cert. 15.
