Un amour impossible (2018)

Directed by: Catherine Corsini | 135 minutes | drama, biography | Actors: Virginie Efira, Niels Schneider, Jehnny Beth, Estelle Lescure, Coralie Russier, Iliana Zabeth, Catherine Morlot, Ambre Hasaj, Sasha Alessandri-Torrès Garcia, Pierre Salvadori, Gaël Kamilindi, Simon Bakhouche

A romantic film about social differences in love, in the fifties. Haven’t we seen this before? Mais oui, bien sûr. In the impassionedly staged ‘Un amour impossible’, typist Rachel (the excellent Virginie Efira) enters into an affair with the wealthy Philippe (Niels Schneider), a charming braggart who only expresses his love when asked. Or in bed, but that’s easy.

The viewer has all the clichés about romantic love up for grabs – including voiceover and lovers reading their letters aloud, but you believe in Rachel’s love for Philippe, and watch with her, even think more than you see her. Credibility is always the key, after all, in love there are not so many options other than loving, pretending and the accompanying pounding of the heart.

There is something between the two, an age difference anyway. The fact that Rachel is older (Imdb speaks of ten years between the actors) cancels out the class difference, that is the originality of this film. Rachel has a strong character, is a pure soul and parent, Philippe has the cool of eternal youth and wealth. There is both chemistry and mischief in both attitudes.

Misfortune that is because love seldom comes without disaster. Unfortunately, little news, dear readers. After just under an hour, this film has already reached its dramatic climax. It is beautifully presented, including a car trip on a narrow coastal road, and a hood that suddenly slams in front of the windows, and a car that brakes just before the abyss, and young lovers who make love afterwards. For a moment it is beautiful, very beautiful.

The viewer’s sympathy is with Rachel, who becomes the mother of a daughter, who is not recognized because she would be too little for Philippe’s family, and yet wants her daughter to know her father. Philippe’s motives are rubbed in, but Rachel fights back bravely. A lot of black and white, but credibility remains the key. And the creators’ love for the main character. ‘L’amour’ is ‘impossible’, we already knew that. How you deal with it makes all the difference.