Après lui (2007)
Directed by Gaël Morel

Film Review

Gaël Morel has come a long way since his acting film début in André Téchiné's evocative coming-of-age drama Roseaux sauvages (1994).  À toute vitesse (1996) marked the auspicious beginning of his career as a film director.  He has since directed four films, including a television drama.  Après lui, his latest film, confirms Morel's reputation as one of the most promising auteur filmmakers of his generation.  Assisting Morel on the screenwriting is another important French auteur Christophe Honoré, whose impressive directing credits include 17 fois Cécile Cassard (2002) and Les Chansons d'amour (2007).

Après lui is a pretty cheerless drama in which a grieving mother tries to come to terms with the premature death of her grown-up son.  This immediately brings to mind Nanni Moretti's excellent 2001 film, The Son's Room, but Gaël Morel's treatment of the subject could hardly be more different.  In his film, the son appears only briefly in the film's introduction, and is then snatched away from us.  The loss which his mother then experiences is vicariously transferred to the spectator in a way that is both subtle and brutal - through a combination of a very subdued cinematic style and a spectacularly intense performance from the film's star, Catherine Deneuve.

Denueve needs no introduction.  She has graced cinema screens for five decades, during which time she has worked with some of the world's greatest directors and made a huge contribution to the international appeal of French cinema.  Now well into her sixties (not that you would ever notice), this iconic actress has lost none of her charm and ability to engage with an audience.  Après lui is a film that seems to have been tailor-made for Deneuve and allows her to turn in one of her best performances for years.  Watching Deneuve in this film is a truly moving and cathartic experience; anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one will sympathise immediately with the character she portrays with such authenticity.

Catherine Denueve's tour de force performance only accounts for half of film's impact, however.   The other half lies in a well-crafted screenplay (which Morel co-authored with Christophe Honoré, another promising young filmmaker) and the way in which Morel constructs the narrative, cutting back on stylistic excess and eschewing implausible plot developments in favour of an almost cinéma vérité style of realism.  The story he tells is poetically simple, unpretentious and devastatingly effective.

Film Synopsis

Camille's whole world is ripped apart when her beloved son Mathieu is killed in a road accident.   Try as she might, she just cannot put the incident behind her and she constantly seeks the support of Mathieu's best friend, Franck, who was to blame for his death.  Neither her husband nor her daughter is capable of helping Camille through this period of bereavement.  Only Franck, who is still racked with guilt, appears to be able to sympathise with her distress and excruciating sense of loss.  Over time, Camille's relationship with Franck develops into something far more harmful, an obsession that threatens them both...