La Vie promise (2002/2004) (AKA Ghost
River, The Promised Life)
Note: It is necessary to reveal
a few things about this film to discuss it. In other
words: Spoiler alert!
"La Vie promise" begins where many
other films might end. Instead of being a story of
anger, dissolution and resent, it becomes a story
of redemptions and reconciliations. Isabelle Huppert,
easily the most challenging and consummate actress
working in French cinema today, plays Sylvia, a prostitute
who finds her life unraveling when her past catches
up with her. At least that's what it seems to be about
at first. But the film slowly, and in a somewhat convoluted
manner, begins to expose a story that is difficult
to follow. It took me two viewings to finally piece
together exactly what the story of the main character
really is all about.
This is a film structured like many
we have seen before. Sylvia, who must go on the lam
with a young woman who we think is either her daughter
or little sister, travels towards someone from her
past with no real notion of why she is doing so. She
may be looking for a safe place. She may be trying
to reclaim her past life. Along the way, she meets
a stranger who will somehow grow to like her and help
her reach her destination and become whole. As we
travel with the protagonist, her history begins to
unravel and we learn more and more about how she ended
up in her present situation.
But this film is far more subtle
and interesting that an American counterpart might
be. Sylvia is a complex and distant person and gleaning
any information about her, or why she is the way she
is, is quite difficult. Slowly but surely, we gather
up pieces of the puzzle but, ultimately, we aren't
given everything we need to know to figure her out.
At least, not in a proper order. We are presented
the story in a manner similar to Sylvia's chaotic
and convoluted mindset. We reclaim her life as she
does, in fits and starts, in bits and pieces.
When "La Vie promise" is finally
at its conclusion, we are in fact surprised by the
things we learn and confused about the things we have
not. That is not to say that this film is disappointing.
Rather, it refuses to coddle and spoonfeed us. There
seem to be glaring omissions here in the flashback
story we are gathering not because the film is bad
or ridiculous but because writer director Olivier
Dahan simply does not think we need to know the information.
In this way, we can all relate to Sylvia because,
ultimately, we all create in our own mind a vision
of what must have lead her into the life of a prostitute
that she was at the beginning of the film. Each person
who watches the film will ultimately create their
own version of what unraveled in her life, or how
or why, and that makes the film both challenging and
engrossing.
Granted, Dahan and co-scripter Agnes
Fustier-Dahan leads us down a path full of red herrings
where we think that we are going to discover the reason
for this woman's angst and unhappiness or find some
troubling forgotten detail that will wreck Sylvia
and devastate her. After all, that's what would happen
in an a American film. But this film doesn't go there.
Yes, there are several odd pieces here that do not
make it easy to fit the puzzle together and perhaps
even a second viewing is necessary to understand all
that goes on but ultimately Huppert's dynamic performance
and Dahan's amazing ability to draw us into this film
makes it all worthwhile.
This is a beautiful film. The images
are simply gorgeous throughout. The editing is perfect
and it is often a joy to submit to the visual experience
of seeing the film. Its only problem, in fact, is
the use of music here, which is quite odd and ultimately
unsatisfying. The film is (as)salted with English
pop songs that stick out like sore thumbs throughout
the film. Dahan does use the cool device of presenting
entire songs at certain points as if he is painting
a music video but these segments are so loud, so alt_poppy
and, God help us, so American (as if Melissa Etheridge
scored a French film), that it just doesn't work.
Still, overall, "La Vie promise"
is an interesting film, made relevant by beautiful
images and Huppert's always captivating portrayal
of an often troubling character. The mystery of unraveling
her Sylvia's complex and disturbing backstory may
require multiple viewings, but this is a film worth
seeing more than once.
Note:
In French with subtitles.
My French is really bad but surely
it is obvious that the title translates into "The
Promised Life." Most American cinemas are presenting
it with the original title. The version on the film
that I saw had the title listed in English subtitle
as "Ghost River" and that phrase is used in the film's
dialogue.
Released in France on 2002, the
film was not seen in American arthouses until March
of 2004.
Viewed on a VHS screener provided
by the Dobie Theater in May of 2004.
