Alain Corneau is one of the best and most versatile of present day French directors and his CV includes some excellent polars - three with Yves Montand - plus the 'costume' picture Tous les matins du monde right up to his last film, also featuring Sylvie Testud, Stupeur et Tremblement which was shot entirely in Japanese. Testud is again excellent as Clara, who, as a young child loved to read to her grandmother until one day Grandmother died in the middle of a reading leaving Clara traumatised to the extent that she refused/declined to read and write thereafter. In the interim she has herself had a daughter, Anna (Camille Gauthier) who is mute and mother and daughter communicate by drawing. Into their world - though that is perhaps a wrong description since they are entering his - comes Vincent (Sergi Lopez) a gifted teacher who specialises in children like Anna. For the role Lopez is required to be charismatic so that children warm to him and respond to his teaching and Anna is no exception, and in this respect the film resembles similar elements in the wonderful German film Mostly Martha in which Sergio Castellitto had a similar effect though this time on Aunt and Niece rather than Mother and Daughter. Although most of us will see the inevitable love blossoming from initial hostility between Lopez and Testud Corneau doesn't hit us over the head with this and does devote the lion's share of screen time to the problems of Anna. This is the first film made by Camille Gauthier and she is excellent though possibly more due to a child's lack of inhibition than genuine acting ability and it will be interesting to see if she continues as an actress. Lopez is as reliable as usual and I can only thank Alain Corneau for his lingering close ups of Sylvie Testud who is not an obvious beauty like, in their own different ways, Manu Beart and Audrey Tautau but nevertheless IS beautiful given the right conditions. A charming and delightful film. 8 stars.
Review of Les mots bleus
