Deneuve is like a wintry lioness in this subtle drama
The Truth
PG cert, 107 min ★★★★★
Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda Starring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke, Clémentine Grenier
This week’s raft of cinema closures will see subscription services such as Curzon Home Cinema come into their own. This new film from Hirokazu Kore-eda, originally scheduled for a theatrical release, is worth seeking out. It is a keenly observed drama of family life: or business as usual for the great Japanese director. The first thing Kore-eda has shot outside his homeland, with French and English rather than Japanese dialogue, it has as its star a bona fide cinema icon in Catherine Deneuve.
It unfolds in Paris, in and around the home and life of Fabienne Dangeville, a dame of French cinema, played by Deneuve like a lioness in winter.
Fabienne is about to publish her supposed tell-all memoir, and her daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) reads an advanced copy. She’s dismayed by what she finds, but not because it is too candid. It’s that it isn’t nearly candid enough.
It’s awash with self-serving confections and omissions, glossing over Sarah Mondavan, a deceased contemporary, whom Fabienne once cheated out of a career-defining role by seducing the director casting it.
The Truth is a film of small and beautifully turned moments, but defaults to neat and gentle comedy a little too often. It doesn’t needle at its underlying themes vigorously enough to draw blood.
Available on Curzon Home Cinema