I'm glad I spontaneously decided to give this a shot in the middle of the night because I had a rough week 🤠 Entre Nous opens with a promising and unique plot. It begins with a simple story of a young French guard who fell in love with one of the Jewish refugees who has been captivated and ready to be deported to Germany. He then marries the girl to save themselves and escape the deportation to Italy. Sounds very promising, right? They have a long journey ahead of them. I first thought the term "entre nous" was referring to their phoney marriage. But no, this is entirely not what I expected. The story grows even more complex and becomes an excellent example of great character study in film.
Kurys—who turned out telling the story about her late mother—gave justice to each character, stripping them down to their core—giving each of them a sense of identity and showing the audience their sins and flaws. It's not just a film about maternal issues but a meticulously crafted one about marriage and friendship. The connection between Lena and Madeleine grew over time, the dynamics of their marriage with Michel and Costa, and the rigid society that demands such roles of a mother. Kurys has successfully created such depth, intimacy, and complexity.
What is also unique is that it doesn't represent women conventionally with their "motherly instincts" and sacrifices (I'm not putting down other women out there who wanted to become great mothers and make so many sacrifices for the sake of their families. Props to them 🫡). Taken into context, our two main characters don't depersonalise themselves to become mothers. They somewhat know their needs and wants by keeping their social lives functioning, learning to drive, and even wanting to work and open a boutique. But of course, they can't have it all. There are consequences and prices to be paid. We then got exposed to the result of the rigid society against both Lena and Madeleine, the loveless and sparkless marriage, the lack of bonding with their children, and the downhill of their marriages. But again, out of all fairness, I feel so much pity towards Michel's figure despite the cruel things he did to Lena 😬 🤷♀️
I'm glad I spontaneously decided to give this a shot in the middle of the night because I had a rough week 🤠 Entre Nous opens with a promising and unique plot. It begins with a simple story of a young French guard who fell in love with one of the Jewish refugees who has been captivated and ready to be deported to Germany. He then marries the girl to save themselves and escape the deportation to Italy. Sounds very promising, right? They have a long journey ahead of them. I first thought the term "entre nous" was referring to their phoney marriage. But no, this is entirely not what I expected. The story grows even more complex and becomes an excellent example of great character study in film.
Kurys—who turned out telling the story about her late mother—gave justice to each character, stripping them down to their core—giving each of them a sense of identity and showing the audience their sins and flaws. It's not just a film about maternal issues but a meticulously crafted one about marriage and friendship. The connection between Lena and Madeleine grew over time, the dynamics of their marriage with Michel and Costa, and the rigid society that demands such roles of a mother. Kurys has successfully created such depth, intimacy, and complexity.
What is also unique is that it doesn't represent women conventionally with their "motherly instincts" and sacrifices (I'm not putting down other women out there who wanted to become great mothers and make so many sacrifices for the sake of their families. Props to them 🫡). Taken into context, our two main characters don't depersonalise themselves to become mothers. They somewhat know their needs and wants by keeping their social lives functioning, learning to drive, and even wanting to work and open a boutique. But of course, they can't have it all. There are consequences and prices to be paid. We then got exposed to the result of the rigid society against both Lena and Madeleine, the loveless and sparkless marriage, the lack of bonding with their children, and the downhill of their marriages. But again, out of all fairness, I feel so much pity towards Michel's figure despite the cruel things he did to Lena 😬 🤷♀️
