WHO YOU THINK I AM
****
Director: Safy Nebbou
Screenwriters: Safy Nebbou and Julie Peyr, based on the eponymous novel by Camille Laurens.
Principal cast:
Juliette Binoche
Nicole Garcia
François Civil
Guillaume Gouix
Charles Berling
Claude Peron
Country: France/Belgium
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 101 mins.
Australian release date: 1 August 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 16 July 2019.
Who You Think I Am, directed by Safy Nebbou, is a fascinating adaptation of Camille Laurens’ novel about the lengths people will go to in order to regain their sense of self, after being betrayed by a partner. Or to make their bruised egos feel better? In this case, the story deals with a 50-year-old woman, the mother of two teenagers, whose husband has left her for his younger lover. To compensate, she takes a younger paramour herself but when that relationship goes cool too, she starts ‘catfishing’, creating a false identity on social media. Her dishonesty doesn’t just ensnare another person though, and soon she is caught on the hook of her own deception. The film also covers the question of aging, an issue for women, in particular, in Western society where females become invisible after ‘a certain age’, considered past their ‘prime’. Nebbou and his co-writer Julie Peyr also invoke elements of Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Hitchcock’s Vertigo in this intriguing tale exposing the dangers of cyber relationships.
The opening shot hints at the hidden depths of the film’s subject, as it focuses on the partially submerged face of a woman in a bath. In a series of sessions with her psychotherapist, Dr. Catherine Bormans (Nicola Garcia), comparative literature lecturer Claire Millaud (Juliette Binoche) gradually opens up about her life and her alter ego, 24-year-old ‘Clara’. Naturally, she is asked whether she felt she was being untruthful in creating this new persona on the internet and she responds by revealing that, when she is on-line, she isn’t pretending to be 24, she is 24. And in fact, to Binoche’s great credit, the actress actually looks younger when she is playing Clara than when she is portraying Claire. It’s an amazing transformation. But back to the plot: it transpires that Alex (François Civil), a roommate of Claire’s ex-boyfriend Ludo (Guillaume Gouix), has fallen hard for ‘Clara’ and she, in turn, has developed equally strong feelings for him. Which, of course, is a problem for Claire - should she expose her true self to Alex or will he flee when he finds out she is twice the age that he thinks ‘Clara’ is? The dilemma is taken out of her hands, however, when Ludo accidentally finds out about the deception and takes it upon himself to resolve the issue, creating unforeseen consequences for all.
Under Dr. Bormans’ relentless questioning, Claire’s story, and the film’s trajectory, is peeled like an onion, revealing layer after layer of meaning. Garcia is terrific in the role of the penetrating, emotionless therapist, the perfect foil for Binoche’s flirtatious, wounded character as a woman fighting the reality of middle-age. Plenty of wide-screen close-ups of the two of them during their sessions add to the sense of probing and digging, giving one the sense that there’s more to these meetings than meets the eye. There are also many shots reflecting Binoche/Claire’s face in computer screens, mirrors and windows, which add to the sense of her double identity. These sharp visuals by cinematographer Gilles Porte are accompanied by a wonderful score composed by Ibrahim Maalouf. Who You Think I Am is a sly, slow-burn of a film; part thriller, part Mills & Boon romance.
Screenwriters: Safy Nebbou and Julie Peyr, based on the eponymous novel by Camille Laurens.
Principal cast:
Juliette Binoche
Nicole Garcia
François Civil
Guillaume Gouix
Charles Berling
Claude Peron
Country: France/Belgium
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 101 mins.
Australian release date: 1 August 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 16 July 2019.
Who You Think I Am, directed by Safy Nebbou, is a fascinating adaptation of Camille Laurens’ novel about the lengths people will go to in order to regain their sense of self, after being betrayed by a partner. Or to make their bruised egos feel better? In this case, the story deals with a 50-year-old woman, the mother of two teenagers, whose husband has left her for his younger lover. To compensate, she takes a younger paramour herself but when that relationship goes cool too, she starts ‘catfishing’, creating a false identity on social media. Her dishonesty doesn’t just ensnare another person though, and soon she is caught on the hook of her own deception. The film also covers the question of aging, an issue for women, in particular, in Western society where females become invisible after ‘a certain age’, considered past their ‘prime’. Nebbou and his co-writer Julie Peyr also invoke elements of Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Hitchcock’s Vertigo in this intriguing tale exposing the dangers of cyber relationships.
The opening shot hints at the hidden depths of the film’s subject, as it focuses on the partially submerged face of a woman in a bath. In a series of sessions with her psychotherapist, Dr. Catherine Bormans (Nicola Garcia), comparative literature lecturer Claire Millaud (Juliette Binoche) gradually opens up about her life and her alter ego, 24-year-old ‘Clara’. Naturally, she is asked whether she felt she was being untruthful in creating this new persona on the internet and she responds by revealing that, when she is on-line, she isn’t pretending to be 24, she is 24. And in fact, to Binoche’s great credit, the actress actually looks younger when she is playing Clara than when she is portraying Claire. It’s an amazing transformation. But back to the plot: it transpires that Alex (François Civil), a roommate of Claire’s ex-boyfriend Ludo (Guillaume Gouix), has fallen hard for ‘Clara’ and she, in turn, has developed equally strong feelings for him. Which, of course, is a problem for Claire - should she expose her true self to Alex or will he flee when he finds out she is twice the age that he thinks ‘Clara’ is? The dilemma is taken out of her hands, however, when Ludo accidentally finds out about the deception and takes it upon himself to resolve the issue, creating unforeseen consequences for all.
Under Dr. Bormans’ relentless questioning, Claire’s story, and the film’s trajectory, is peeled like an onion, revealing layer after layer of meaning. Garcia is terrific in the role of the penetrating, emotionless therapist, the perfect foil for Binoche’s flirtatious, wounded character as a woman fighting the reality of middle-age. Plenty of wide-screen close-ups of the two of them during their sessions add to the sense of probing and digging, giving one the sense that there’s more to these meetings than meets the eye. There are also many shots reflecting Binoche/Claire’s face in computer screens, mirrors and windows, which add to the sense of her double identity. These sharp visuals by cinematographer Gilles Porte are accompanied by a wonderful score composed by Ibrahim Maalouf. Who You Think I Am is a sly, slow-burn of a film; part thriller, part Mills & Boon romance.