La Belle saison (2015)
Directed by Catherine Corsini

Film Review

With La Belle saison, director Catherine Corsini continues her exploration of the mystifying complexities of human relationships, but in a somewhat sunnier and less inhibited vein than her previous overwrought offerings.  The film starts out as a full-on homage to the women's liberation movement of the 1970s, whose achievements Corsini openly acknowledges as benefiting her both personally and professionally, before turning into a harrowingly true to life depiction of a lesbian love affair  that cannot fail to stir the emotions.  It is the transition between these two parts of the film that is its primary let down, and Corsini's apparent inability to link the feminist themes at the top of the film to the drama which ensues at least partly undermines a work of considerable charm and integrity that is arguably the director's most significant work to date.

The film owes its power almost entirely to the sizzling rapport between the two lead actresses, Cécile de France and Izïa Higelin, perfectly cast in the roles of the lesbian lovers Carole and Delphine who, incidentally, are named after Carole Roussopoulos and Delphine Seyrig, two prominent feminist activists of the 1970s.  De France has already had a brush with lesbianism in other films - L'Auberge espagnole (2002), Haute Tension (2003) and Soeur Sourire (2009) - but this is her first opportunity to apply her talents to a serious lesbian-themed fiction, and, assisted by an exemplary screenplay, her committed performance resonates with a truth that absolutely electrifies.  As the younger Delphine, Higelin, a popular singer recently turned actress, is just as impressive.  Her chalk-and-cheese pairing with de France is just what the script demands and we are not only enchanted by the evolving relationship between their two characters, we become completely overwhelmed by it.

De France, the more mature and emotionally stable character, sees in Higelin's impulsive and confident Delphine the epitome of the liberated female, but is this enough for her to ditch her likeable (male) partner and embark on a potentially hazardous lesbian love affair?  This is the question that vexes the spectator in the early part of the film, which is also somewhat marred by a superficial representation of the feminist movement.  That Corsini is in awe of the feminists' achievements is hard to credit as here she represents them less as a united force for change and more as a rabble of hysterical young women screaming empty platitudes and behaving generally like laddettes in the course of an all-night drinking spree.  It's an exuberant burst of energy and optimism that follows the film's dour opening sequence, but its charms soon wear thin.  It is only when the location shifts back to the country that the drama begins proper and the film's stark humanity at last starts to assert itself, helped by some gut-wrenching performances, not just from the two stars, but also from the supporting artists, including a remarkable Noémie Lvovsky.

La Belle saison does bear comparison with Abdellatif Kechiche's similarly themed La Vie d'Adele (2013), although it is clearly an inferior film lacking both in cohesion and sustained dramatic power.  Where Corsini's film does match Kechiche's is in the sensitivity shown by the both screenwriters and lead actors in the portrayal of a serious lesbian relationship.  Corsini's film presents the relationship in a somewhat more positive light, with a greater sense of poignancy which derives, at least in part, from the sad truth that a love affair between women was far less acceptable in the 1970s than it is today.  The fact that Delphine and Carole have to pursue their romance in secret in a behind-the-times rural backwater, fearful of what may happen if it is discovered, accentuates both the beauty of their shared passion and its terrible fragility.  Jeanne Lapoirie's stunning photography creates a palpable sense of 'Paradise Found', presenting to us the raw open countryside as voluptuously as the naked bodies of the protagonists in their uninhibited lovemaking scenes, all the time accompanied by a movingly expressive score from Grégoire Hetzel.  Yet it's a love affair which, like the feminist aspirations of the day, is threatened by conservative values and society's reluctance to embrace individuality.  There's conflict and heartache aplenty as Carole and Delphine realise that the 'belle saison' (the special time of the year when fruit and vegetables are ripe for harvesting) may not be theirs after all.

Film Synopsis

In 1971, 25-year-old Delphine surprises her farming parents when she turns her back on a life in the country and heads for Paris to make a fresh start.  No one's going to tell her how to live her life or who she should marry.  She wants to stand on her own feet and follow her heart.  In Carole, a Spanish teacher in her mid-30s who is actively involved with the feminist movement, she feels she has found a kindred spirit.  Although Carole is married, she allows Delphine to draw her into what soon becomes an intense love affair.  Hearing that her father has fallen ill, family duty forces Delphine to return to her home in the country.  Carole follows her and they resume their relationship, taking care to keep it a secret from Delphine's entourage.  How long can the romance endure...?