The film takes place in one day from morning to evening in Sintra, the beautiful city in Portugal. And this beauty of nature opposes to the withering and illness of the main character, emphasizes the transience of life.
The main character, a movie star Frankie, who brilliantly played Isabelle Huppert, has cancer and knows that she hasn't long to live. But don't think it's a film about illness and struggle, no. It's different.
Unusual role Huppert for me here. Her character is too quiet, calm, without any strong emotions. I think this Huppert I have not seen in any of her films. And in fact, the main words in "Frankie" are not pronounced, they are read between the lines.
Frankie gathers the whole family to talk about their future life without her, to help solve their problems. And in all these dialogues, no matter how businesslike they are, we feel the great love and longing of people close to each other.
As it may seems, Frankie calmly accepts her illness and her impending death. She doesn't care. But here she accidentally falls on the birthday of her old fan, who turns many years, looks at the cake, candles, joy... And we can see in her eyes all the bitterness and pain that she will not live to such an age. Another great acting job in this movie is Marisa Tomei. She played friend Frankie which arriving in Sintra for this one day with steeply changes her life. At all this one day becomes very important for everyone characters in the movie.
Very beautiful final shot in the mountains at sunset. Frankie stands and looks down at her family and friends. It's like she's not here anymore. But it still looks optimistic, oddly enough. This is due to the skill of the Director. Ira Sachs was able to shoot all the scenes, plans that showed all the unsaid emotions of the characters, their inner world. That is why the theme of the movie is sad, but after watching remains on the contrary a very light feeling and love of life. So for me this film is not about illness and death. This is a film about the beauty around us, how beautiful life is, but we often don't notice it immersed in their small problems.
I recommend watching this movie.
Unusual role Huppert for me here. Her character is too quiet, calm, without any strong emotions. I think this Huppert I have not seen in any of her films. And in fact, the main words in "Frankie" are not pronounced, they are read between the lines.
Frankie gathers the whole family to talk about their future life without her, to help solve their problems. And in all these dialogues, no matter how businesslike they are, we feel the great love and longing of people close to each other.
As it may seems, Frankie calmly accepts her illness and her impending death. She doesn't care. But here she accidentally falls on the birthday of her old fan, who turns many years, looks at the cake, candles, joy... And we can see in her eyes all the bitterness and pain that she will not live to such an age. Another great acting job in this movie is Marisa Tomei. She played friend Frankie which arriving in Sintra for this one day with steeply changes her life. At all this one day becomes very important for everyone characters in the movie.
Very beautiful final shot in the mountains at sunset. Frankie stands and looks down at her family and friends. It's like she's not here anymore. But it still looks optimistic, oddly enough. This is due to the skill of the Director. Ira Sachs was able to shoot all the scenes, plans that showed all the unsaid emotions of the characters, their inner world. That is why the theme of the movie is sad, but after watching remains on the contrary a very light feeling and love of life. So for me this film is not about illness and death. This is a film about the beauty around us, how beautiful life is, but we often don't notice it immersed in their small problems.
I recommend watching this movie.