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UNFORGIVABLE Send This Review to a Friend
Director André Téchiné has come up with a complex, entertaining film,
“Unforgivable,” set in Venice. I saw it when it was shown as part of the 2012
Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series. Its intricate screenplay was co-written by Téchiné, Mehdi Ben Attia and Philippe Djian. Superb, mature actor André
Dussolier plays Francis, a writer who needs a place to live and work. He gets more than intended from prolific actress Carole Bouquet as Judith, a real estate agent. She finds him a place all right, and they also fall into a romantic relationship and marry.
Bouquet has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw her in Luis Buñuel’s “That Obscure Object of Desire.” Here, although older, she still looks extremely appealing and adds strength and complexity to her character, who cherishes her independence. She has had a lesbian relationship in the past, but is comfortable in this heterosexual one. The trouble is that Francis is fiercely jealous and hires a young man to spy on Judith.
One can foresee the consequences. The fellow, Jérémie, played by Mauro Conte, is a problem case, having a prison past and being prone to trouble. There is a subplot involving the young man and his ailing mother, but his main function is involvement in the relationship of the couple.
One is pulled along by the intriguing story and the acting, and, of course, there is Venice, with a scenic perspective different from the clichéd look of the city and environs that we usually get. The house in which the couple settles is on the isle of Sant’ Erasmo. "Unforgivable" is mature and engrossing, with special pleasure provided by the cast. A Strand Releasing release.
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