Amalric understands that it’s not the tragedies we face that define us as much as the days that follow-how we cope with grief or manage new realities-and he’s turned that understanding into one of the best films of the year.Īvailable in select theaters starting September 9th.Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling play Barbie and Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie
#CLARISSE OR SOMETHING ABOUT US MOVIE REVIEW MOVIE#
"Hold Me Tight" is a movie that sneaks up on you, and by the time it clarifies exactly what happened to Clarisse in its final scenes, it feels like you’ve already experienced the emotional fallout of that event.
And they recognize that not every piece needs to fit, allowing the end result to be unpredictably moving in its own way. Because its structure is so atypical to the modern family melodrama, it requires a great deal of craftsmanship to literally just put the broken pieces of Clarisse’s life into cinematic shape. And he works perfectly with cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne and editor François Gédigier (“Dancer in the Dark”) to find this film’s rhythm. He has such a carefully calibrated sense of what this movie needs-other directors would have relied on over-cooked montages. The most subtly framed compositions in this film can somehow achieve remarkable levels of emotion. It's also a reminder that Amalric just has an incredible eye as a director. It’s hard to anchor a film with so much emotional and practical diversions in order to keep the character from being like a pawn to the filmmaking, but Krieps never falters. It jumps in time and even reality, becoming something increasingly lyrical even as it ostensibly answers questions about “what’s really happening.” It’s a daring, complex journey for any actress, and Krieps is fearlessly able to roll with it, collaborating with Amalric to be organic and grounded just enough to keep the film from spinning off into the poetic ether. It starts to become clear that “Hold Me Tight” is toying with, well, everything.
She snaps at a stranger with his son for mistreating him she grabs ice from a fish market and covers her face with it. There’s a lyricism to the scenes set back at home, snapshots of family life that don’t exist for Clarisse anymore, and just the sense of disconnect between her and the family builds a palpable emotional energy before the twist of the film delivers its gut punch.įrom the beginning, something isn’t quite right with Clarisse.
Or are they? Again, it’s difficult to explain what’s happening in “Hold Me Tight,” but you should know that it’s not a traditional melodrama about a destroyed family. Lucie plays the piano and Paul plays in the yard, adjusting to life without their mother. It’s a powerful piece of work with poetic direction and incredible work from Krieps, an actress who increasingly feels like she’s never going to miss.Īs Clarisse seems to start a new life on the coast, “Hold Me Tight” cuts back to her family, including her husband Marc ( Arieh Worthalter) and children Lucie ( Juliette Benveniste/ Anne-Sophie Bowen-Chatet) and Paul (Aurele Grzesik/ Sacha Ardilly).
We have been trained to look for clues and “solve” movies, but “Hold Me Tight” truly opens up when you start admiring it emotionally instead of logically. His drama moves through time, space, and even imagination in a manner that starts to become clearer but also resists traditional interpretation. Suffice to say, Amalric uses the power of film in his adaptation of Claudine Galea's play to do things that wouldn’t be possible in any other form. Director Mathieu Amalric (a well-known actor from “ Quantum of Solace,” “ The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and many more) plays with perception in his excellent drama “Hold Me Tight,” making it difficult to review without spoiling the major revelation that comes about a third of the way through, but I’ll do my best.
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