Deep down in one's soul

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2009)

There is much more to this film than a simple story of selfish or disillusioned people. This is about two persons who cannot make up their minds about where should their life path take them and who are totally mesmerized by the "hopeless emptiness" of living. An stunning performance of actors, playing characters devoured by strong feelings, inflamed hope, resentments and frustrations. The idea of having their hidden, deep thoughts deciphered by the lunatic neighbour, is a very strong point for the film.
Not often have I seen a film in which the innate difficulty at communicating between man and wife - the way we look at common projects, failures and achievements- have been so crudely carved and depicted. Yet, for most of us, fortunately, affection, luck or giving up, maybe even sometimes common sense allows to heal the wounds. The final scene illustrates on a light tone the difficulty of communicating between spouses, the man choosing his own way to not have to continue the dialog with his life partner.
Franck and April are passionate people, and common sense is not something you want to hear about when you have a passion. Their drama is that they do not know what they are passionate about, they cannot find what makes them "special".
The same director as "American Beauty". In a sense, the characters in that film were totally unconscious, even if behaving in an irresponsible way, of what was going to happen; they could not think about the unthinkable ending. In this story, you can perceive a good deal of willingness to hurt and to be hurt; just to feel something, finally.