Claire Darling – La dernièrefolie de Claire Darling (2018)

Directed by: Julie Bertuccelli | 94 minutes | drama | Actors: Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Alice Taglioni, Laure Calamy, Samir Guesmi, Olivier Rabourdin, Johan Leysen, Colomba Giovanni, Simon Thomas, Mona Goinard, Joseph Flammer, Lewine Weber-Monfort, Amine Mejri, Julien Chavrial

Do things hold their value? And what if these items have specific memories and thus evoke feelings? And what is the value of memories then? All these questions form the basis of ‘Claire Darling’, a film about a woman with dementia who one day decides to put all her things on sale. Everything she has collected over the years tells a story about a family torn apart with a tragic history.

Catherine Deneuve plays the title role and her daughter Chiara Mastroianni plays her daughter Marie Darling. The two have (in the film) a love-hate relationship and Marie reluctantly returns when she hears that her mother really doesn’t seem to have it sorted anymore. Because certainly for someone who was so attached to collecting things, selling everything overnight is a separate step. As it turns out, she does so because she is convinced that she has only one day to live.

The first signs of dementia are quickly apparent in the film and from that moment on, past and present start to intertwine. This is a well-chosen narrative structure, because on the one hand it illustrates Claire’s temporal insecurity, but also because it is also a good way to tell the history of the Darling family (and surroundings). What the film also does strongly is omitting too much explanation. Claire Darling isn’t the most empathetic mother and wife to say the least, but she was before disaster struck. And that conclusion is enough; nowhere does the director Julie Bertuccelli choose to condone Claire’s behavior. This is also a point of criticism from the perspective of the entire film. Sometimes it remains a bit too abstract and clear motives are missing, which on the other hand is also typical for dementia.

What is another big plus for this film is Catherine Deneuve. She plays the elusive Claire Darling more than convincingly. The danger of overacting is lurking in this story, but Deneuve keeps it small and that makes the character Claire Darling very believable.

At first glance, the film looks like a story about dementia, but it quickly turns into a story about memories, about the unfairness of life and how small decisions can have major consequences. The ending of the film seems a bit artificial, but across the board ‘Claire Darling’ is a fascinating whole that leaves the viewer thinking for a long time about collecting memories instead of stuff.