Suzanne
20/03/16 Filed in: Amazon Prime
My French film season continues courtesy of Amazon Prime. This week the film was Suzanne, the story of a young woman's life from childhood, albeit that the film jumps large periods of time as her story unfolds.
I didn't know what to expect from this film. It starts at a children's dance show where Suzanne is with her father, watching her elder sister, Maria. We soon learn that their mum has died young, although we never learn why. The father, Nicolas, an HGV driver, is doing his best to bring up the two girls. At first Maria appears to be the 'wild child', but it is Suzanne who becomes pregnant and has the child, much to her father's shame.
Suzanne then meet Julien and he becomes the centre of her life, to the extent that she leaves her child, Charlie, with her father. But Charlie is taken into the care of foster parents as Nicolas's job means he is away from home for long periods.
Next we jump to a court hearing, where Suzanne is charged with theft and assault in relation to acts carried out with Julien, who fled justice and left her to carry the can. She is sentenced to five years in prison. While her father becomes almost estranged, her sister continues to support her.
I didn't know what to expect from this film. It starts at a children's dance show where Suzanne is with her father, watching her elder sister, Maria. We soon learn that their mum has died young, although we never learn why. The father, Nicolas, an HGV driver, is doing his best to bring up the two girls. At first Maria appears to be the 'wild child', but it is Suzanne who becomes pregnant and has the child, much to her father's shame.
Suzanne then meet Julien and he becomes the centre of her life, to the extent that she leaves her child, Charlie, with her father. But Charlie is taken into the care of foster parents as Nicolas's job means he is away from home for long periods.
Next we jump to a court hearing, where Suzanne is charged with theft and assault in relation to acts carried out with Julien, who fled justice and left her to carry the can. She is sentenced to five years in prison. While her father becomes almost estranged, her sister continues to support her.
Having left prison, and after being saved by her sister from what seemed to be a suicide attempt, she gets a job, arranges to see Charlie and appears to be getting her life back together. Then she meets up with Julien again. He is, as they say 'a bad un', involved in drug trafficking and carrying a firearm. But she is besotted. They have a child, and despite his obvious undesirabilities, they seem to be happy and an almost normal family. All this time she is out of contact with her father and sister.
A visit to the cemetery to lay flowers at her mother's grave provides an unexpected shock and Suzanne's life falls apart. Travelling on a false passport she effectively gives herself up to the custom's police and is returned to prison. We can only guess that Julien is also taken into custody.
Throughout this film I felt most sorry for the father. He tried his best and comes across as a wonderful parent, but Suzanne's life choices must have been very difficult for him to deal with. As is often the case with French films, the story is told in a way that portrays the characters as people you could expect to meet in the street, real people, not personalities pursuing fanciful lives that are alien to the average cinema goer. Sara Forestier is superb as Suzanne.
It's certainly a film I would recommend. This short review on The Guardian site is also worth watching.
A visit to the cemetery to lay flowers at her mother's grave provides an unexpected shock and Suzanne's life falls apart. Travelling on a false passport she effectively gives herself up to the custom's police and is returned to prison. We can only guess that Julien is also taken into custody.
Throughout this film I felt most sorry for the father. He tried his best and comes across as a wonderful parent, but Suzanne's life choices must have been very difficult for him to deal with. As is often the case with French films, the story is told in a way that portrays the characters as people you could expect to meet in the street, real people, not personalities pursuing fanciful lives that are alien to the average cinema goer. Sara Forestier is superb as Suzanne.
It's certainly a film I would recommend. This short review on The Guardian site is also worth watching.