Excellent for its craft

Rating: 7/10 (13 December 2019)

A realistic, touching portrait of grieving, with Juliette Binoche shining in the lead role of a woman who's lost both her husband and young daughter in a car accident. Her wound is so deep that she initially rejects everything around her, but in her numbness and isolation the past creeps in, often in the form of an unfinished musical composition. This haunting by music and evolving over time to pick it up again and finish it fits in well with the process she's going through. The pace of the film is a little on the deliberate side, and unfortunately I didn't feel a cathartic connection while watching it, which made me like it more for the craft than emotionally. On the other hand, I did feel as though I should be more gentle and kind to people I run across in real life who may be acting out in their own unseen private worlds of grief. I also loved how director Krzysztof Kieslowski gave us some very nice effects with lights and reflections, including that marvelous shot of the little girl looking through the back window of the car early on. The various effects in blue over the course of the film do eventually start feeling a little forced though. Not bad, but not one I'd be rushing to watch again.