Deeply moving & profound

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2020)

In the film, the powerful first part of a trilogy, the incredible strength and fortitude of a woman is shown in a profoundly moving way. Julie is already a deep character, but after the horrific accident where her husband and son were killed, we can see Julie pull herself together and gradually, through slowness and change, and realizing who her real friends are, find meaning in life again. The motifs of music and color throughout the film add so much to it, as the music is closely tied to the story line and the coloring and lighting of the film creates a specific mood for each scene that reflects Julie's own psyche and further allows viewers to enter into her perspective. Julie's late husband was a composer, and so the music in the film reflects his music and helps narrate the storyline and leads up to the moment when Julie makes the decision to team up with Olivier, her husband's friend, and complete her husband's unfinished piece.
The motif of color and lighting is significant, as it is a little unusual in revealing the car accident at the beginning. The lighting has a soft tone, with blues and greys and fog, rather than the usual harsh colors in car accident scenes. The crash is viewed from a distance, from the eyes of a random passer-by boy. This detail of softness, with the muted, misty colors, almost muffles the impact of such a tragedy which dictates the rest of the film. In other parts of the film, other colors signify more than just the typical setting. For example, the deep blue of the pool where Julie begins consistently swimming to ponder her husband's music, signifies both mourning, but also healing, with the richness of the blue mixed with the water. In the club where Lucille works, the bright reds and pinks exude sensuality, but the blurry focus in that scene brings the focus instead to what Julie discovers there when glancing at the TV in the office. The greens and browns of the apartment could be interpreted as the apartment being a place of growth, where Julie lives and begins to find herself again. Julie moves from a "blue" world (a world of grief, mourning, and numbness) to a living world full of vivacity, color, and music shared with the world and not just internalized. Furthermore, people begin to gather around her, people like Lucille and Olivier, who truly come to care about her. This human connection is essential, a stark difference from the first part of the film, where she is always alone, trying to live from day to day without support or connection from anyone.
The characters are important for Julie's transformation, too. Lucille's role in Julie's life represents an introduction to joy and liveliness. When Julie refuses to sign a petition to get Lucille evicted from the apartment building for being promiscuous, Lucille is eternally grateful for Julie's kindness, even though it was just an act of neutrality. Lucille's frank, outgoing, and mischievous nature helps draw out Julie, and when Lucille needs her help, Julie finds herself going far out of her comfort zone (to an adult club on the other side of town in the middle of the night), but this scene is a turning point for Julie. Being helped and being able to help another person begins to transform Julie from a complete recluse into half of a valuable female friendship. Furthermore, in this scene, she sees on the TV that Olivier has the manuscript for Julie's husband's unfinished piece, and it awakens another emotion in her, anger, that fuels her from a sedentary state into action. Olivier's somewhat presumptuous move here, in appropriating the manuscript, proves, like Lucille's character, that living quietly and without ant courage is unfulfilling, while taking some risks for a good purpose brings excitement and joy into one's life. Julie discovers this as she finally takes the step to help Olivier finish the manuscript.
I wasn't sure about the role of the mother in the story - it seemed like she was just there to show that Julie literally had no one to connect to, since her mother was senile and was unable to support her tragically widowed daughter. At the end of the film, however, the scene where the characters are listening to the finished piece, it shows the mother hearing it.
I did like the added plotline with the husband's mistress. It helped define a way for Julie to let go of the past a little more, although I do feel like in real life that interaction might have been a little more nuanced. The scene in the women's restroom where Julie confronts her is excellently done. As a viewer, you have no idea what Julie is going to do, and you can see on the face of the mistress that she recognizes Julie before she lets on. Julie's calm demeanor gives her more power here than the situation should, and that power carries her further into a sense of herself as an individual, which she needs to carry on living after such a loss.
Overall, the film was hauntingly beautiful, packed with meaning, and so thought provoking that one finds oneself mulling it over days after viewing.