What is the truth, and what is your truth about another person when they have their own truth about you ? The eternal question, and as we all have different perceptions of others and they also have of you the question is what it is - a simple question. This film, directed rather badly in my opinion by Hirokazu Kareeda is not that interesting, and the film is saved by Catherine Deneuve's excellent performance, and she plays to a certain extent ( perhaps ) certain aspects of herself as an actor who has always been in control. It is also a film about making a film, and here I found the dialogue tiresome and rather boring to watch. Juliette Binoche is not at her best and badly supported by the ( to me ) annoying Ethan Hawke. They play daughter and son-in-law to Deneuve and have an annoying child with them. A ping pong match of both the English language and the French language ensues and this too is distracting and not necessary, and all for Ethan Hawke's supposed inability to understand French. Roger van Hool makes an appearance as Binoche's father ( he played Deneuve's lover in ' La Chamade ) and he certainly reminded me of how fleetingly time goes by, and in his eccentric performance deeply moved me. There are far too many other actors and mostly the film lost focus, with the exception of scenes such as a dinner party for the ' family ' which tries to ferret out truths and old recriminations. This subject matter has been seen before and perhaps too much so, but as I said Deneuve gets a 7 from me for her presence alone. The soundtrack music is frankly bad, and to sum up this is a pretentious film that rarely rises above the mainstream.
Review of The Truth
