Love According to Dalva
With her feature debut, Belgium’s Emmanuelle Nicot examines the twelve-year-old victim of sexual abuse in unflinching and surprising ways.
To declare that Zelda Samson, the child actress who heads the cast here, is the new Jodie Foster may sound like a trite journalistic comparison. But, having seen her in Love According to Dalva, it strikes me as being profoundly true. Although the number of outstanding performances by child players is one of cinema's most extraordinary features, when young Jodie Foster first appeared in leading roles it felt different. For once one was watching a portrayal by a child player who was already approaching her role utilising the same instincts that talented adult actors bring into play. Until now it had seemed a unique achievement, but no longer so. I do not know the exact age of Zelda Samson but her portrayal of 12-year-old Dalva shows the same exceptional qualities and that's all the more evident because Dalva is such a complex character.
This film marks the feature debut of the Belgian director Emmanuelle Nicot who is also one of three writers involved. Its tone and stance echo the unflinching approach to uncomfortable social subject matter that marked one of the best French films of recent years, 2021’s Happening. In that film Audrey Diwan confronted issues related to abortion and here Nicot is equally resolute in considering the relationship of a father, Jacques Keller (Jean-Louis Coulloc’h), and his daughter, Dalva, which sees the father brought to court accused of incest and kidnapping. The latter charge stems from the fact that, after his wife (Sandrine Blancke) had left him resulting in joint custody of Dalva being granted, he had gone on the run taking the child with him. Love According to Dalva opens at the crucial moment when the police have tracked the two of them down and Jacques is seized and taken away much to Dalva’s distress.
Nicot's film is handled with tremendous assurance and conviction. We are drawn in immediately, but before long it takes on greater interest still due to the fact that the story unfolds in ways that surprise us. The standard approach for a story involving paedophilia is to portray the predator as a monstrous figure who has imposed himself on his victim who has suffered in consequence. Here, however, we are invited to consider just how true or false that is in the case of Jacques and Dalva. It quickly becomes clear that Dalva, who looks and behaves older than her age, is somebody who, having become estranged from her absent mother, has come to love her father, to see herself as a woman rather than a child and to regard their sexual rapport as a natural expression of that love.
Without the use of flashbacks, what is expressed reveals the family’s past history. Meanwhile the film goes on to show us how a judge has decided that, utilising the Youth Care Agency, Dalva needs the protection of being placed in a juvenile shelter where she is looked after by a social worker, Jayden Dorkel (Alexis Manenti). In addition to liking to dress as a much older person might, Dalva displays an intelligence beyond her years but, because she resents being handled in this way pending her father’s trial, it is what the authorities are doing to her that she regards as unfair and, with respect to what Jacques has done, she insists that he never forced her. Dalva is adamant in believing that her father is not an abuser and it is for the viewer to decide whether or not there is some truth in this. It could indeed be that Dalva, undoubtedly a strong character, really was the one who accepted or even encouraged the close bond becoming overtly sexual. Alternatively, it could well be felt that, as a form of self-protection and as a way of avoiding any feeling of guilt, she has let herself develop and believe in the view of the situation which she expresses.
If Nicot's focus is on what is doubtless a somewhat atypical yet wholly believable example of paedophilia within the family, she is also keen to emphasise the harshness of a system which can put a victimised child into a shelter where, however good the intentions, the other older children, many from rough backgrounds, could readily become a bad influence. In fact, before long Samia (Fanta Guirassy), a black teenager who is resident there, becomes a protective figure, but when Dalva attends school where her situation is known it prompts decidedly off-putting reactions. Meanwhile, the legal case has resulted in Dalva’s mother coming back into her life and, while the child has blamed her for leaving, we want to see if she can now come to see her mother in a fresh light.
Although Zelda Samson’s triumph in bringing Dalva thoroughly to life is key to the film’s success, the writing of the subsidiary roles is fully persuasive too, as is the playing of them. The father himself appears only briefly but, although he confesses his guilt, he is seen as a vulnerable human and the crux of the film is to be found in their relationship and in whether or not Dalva will be able to find a new way ahead. If Love According to Dalva is not quite as brilliant as Happening, it is because, however convincing, some of the material about the shelter and those in it seems subsidiary to the extent of holding up the impetus of the main narrative (and that happens despite the film coming in under 90 minutes). However, the central issues are handled admirably and Nicot does recognise clearly what really counts here, a fact that is confirmed when the film's abrupt end brings it to a perfect close. Love According to Dalva has already won many awards and that is no surprise at all.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Zelda Samson, Alexis Manenti. Fanta Guirassy, Marie Denarnaud, Jean-Louis Coulloc’h, Sandrine Blancke, Maia Sandoz, Charlie Drach, Roman Coustère Hachez, Abdelmounim Snoussi, Gilles David.
Dir Emmanuelle Nicot, Pro Julie Esparbes and Delphine Schmit, Screenplay Emmanuelle Nicot with Jacques Akchoti and Bulle Decarpentries, Ph Caroline Guimbal, Pro Des Catherine Cosme, Ed Suzana Pedro, Music Frederic Alvarez, Costumes Constance Allain.
Hélicotronic/Tripode Productions/Arte France Cinéma/Proximus/Shelter Prod/Canal+/Ciné+-606 Distribution.
83 mins. France/Belgium. 2022. UK Rel: 28 April 2023. Cert. 15.
