Movie Review: The Truth (2019)

A family drama, The Truth explores a difficult relationship between a celebrity mother and her emotionally neglected daughter. While the characters are interesting, the story struggles for justification.

In France, Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) is a fading but still active movie star about to release an autobiographical book. Her daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) arrives for a visit, along with her American husband and struggling actor Hank (Ethan Hawke) and young daughter Charlotte. Self-centred and obsessed with her career, Fabienne never tried to be much of a mother. Her autobiography is filled with flagrant inaccuracies intended to varnish her image, infuriating Lumir.

The visiting family accompany Fabienne to the set of her latest movie, which happens to be about a complex mother-daughter bond starring current hot actress Manon (Manon Clavel). With her long-time butler abandoning her after getting fed-up with her ego, Fabienne has an opportunity to reconsider how she treats those closest to her.

With the talents of Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche occupying the two central roles, The Truth does not lack acting excellence. Both actresses shine, Deneuve finding the unapologetically icy diva within, and Binoche responding with a cry for a semblance of regret or humanity.

Writer and director Hirokazu Koreeda has less success with a relatively damp script. Tension between a career-driven mother and neglected daughter is not exactly new cinematic territory, and here peripheral distractions abound from Ethan Hawke's non-entity actor to Fabienne's butler, cook/lover and ex-husband all in a parade of ignored men. The dialogue lacks edge, and the narrative ambles instead of striving.

What is expected from career women, the trade-offs between professional and family happiness, and who gets to tell their own story are the touched upon themes. The chasm between Fabienne and Lumir is occupied by the spectral presence of the never-seen Sarah, Fabienne's friend and rival during her star-making years. Except that Sarah was also a caring human being and took on the role of Lumir's surrogate mother, offering Fabienne a clear shot at career glory but at a heavy personal price. Frustratingly, Sarah is repeatedly mentioned but never shown.

In the movie-within-a-movie, Fabienne's role as the daughter of a mother who placed her needs first offers rich terrain for reflection. The character of star actress Manon has found a way to stay young forever, the desire of every movie star, but can only see her daughter every seven years. Fabienne approaches Manon with a mixture of barely concealed envy and disdain, not enjoying the image in the mirror. The Truth may be influenced by perspective, but rarely lives up to the desired fantasy.



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Movie Review: The Hunger (1983)

A vampire erotic horror thriller, The Hunger invests all its effort in an overabundance of style at the expense of narrative and character depth.

In New York City, vampire Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) is living with her latest long-term lover John (David Bowie). They feed by luring unsuspecting victims to Miriam's lavish house then violently killing them and drinking their blood.

John is shocked to discover that although Miriam had promised him eternal life, he will eventually age rapidly and expire. He progresses from young and handsome to old and derelict in a matter of hours, but not before making contact with Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), an expert on aging. Miriam sets her eyes on Sarah to be her next long-term partner and proceeds to orchestrate an emotional and physical seduction.

An adaptation of the book by Whitley Strieber, The Hunger's plot points would fit neatly on a small napkin, and the story could be easily told in about 20 minutes of screen time. The serious themes of longevity and the human desire to extend life are used as a juvenile springboard for an inconsequential froth of blood, gore and titillation.

But Tony Scott, making his directorial debut, uses the thin material as a basis for an exercise in stylistic muscle flexing to dazzle the eyes and distract the mind. And so every single frame is drenched in blue light, flowing curtains make a guest appearance at 10 minute intervals, and stroboscopic lights, silhouettes, odd camera angles, manic editing, thumping music, screeching caged monkeys and fluttering white pigeons are deployed to create sensory overload.

While the visual buffet is entertaining and the premise of Catherine Deneuve seducing Susan Sarandon is rich with undeniable eroticism, eventually all logic is jettisoned in favour of a climax full of attempted gothic horror (from the skeletons on the loose variety) but completely devoid of contextual coherence.

The special effects focus on aging, David Bowie the primary victim as he endures decades of physical decline in a matter of minutes, appropriately while he sits in a hospital waiting lounge. Deneuve exudes the icy patience of a person who will live forever, while Sarandon is adequate, despite the script never quite getting a handle on her Dr. Roberts.

The Hunger revels in artistic excess, sucking in blood while avoiding all substance.

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