Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante (2009) - film review

Thomas was four when he and his younger brother were adopted by Yves and Annie Jouvet.  When he is twelve, he becomes obsessed with finding his biological mother, Julie.  Thomas’s adopted parents become concerned when he starts behaving aggressively and have no choice but to help him.  Thomas finally manages to track down his birth mother, but naturally she does not recognise him.  Disgusted, the boy runs off without telling her who he is.  Eight more years pass before Thomas has the courage to confront Julie and tell her that he is her son...

The trauma of adolescence and the fraught relationship between children and their parents are two themes that are central to the work of film director Claude Miller.  After L’Effrontée (1985), La Petite voleuse (1988), L’Accompagnatrice (1992) and La Classe de neige (1998), Miller presents his bleakest, most unsettling portrait of teenage alienation and rebellion, working in collaboration with his son Nathan.  The story is taken from a real-life case and is tackled in a more naturalist vein than Miller’s previous films, not too far removed from the style of the Dardenne brothers.  This is Nathan Miller’s first feature as a director; he had previously worked as a camera operator on some of his father’s films - Betty Fisher (2001) and La Petite Lili (2003) - and directed a short film, La Tartine (2000).  

Whilst Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante is a powerfully authentic piece of drama, its impact is slightly diminished by a fragmented narrative structure that is initially confusing.  Much of the story is told using flashbacks, in a way that makes it difficult for the spectator to engage with the main protagonist.  It doesn’t help that there is also an obvious conflict of styles (which presumably reflects the alternative approaches favoured by the two directors).  The film looks as if it cannot make up its mind whether to go for full-blown cinéma vérité realism or stick with a more conventional approach.   As Claude Miller was a close associate of director François Truffaut (working with him as a production manager on several of his films). it is perhaps not surprising that the film should have echoes of Truffaut’s Les 400 coups (1959).

Although the film’s fragmented structure and clash of styles is a little off-putting, these do (serendipitously) serve to highlight the fractured identity of the main character, Thomas, the youngster who is obsessed with finding his biological mother.  It soon becomes apparent that Thomas’s main motivation for finding his mother is so that he can work out who he is and thereby ease the transition to adulthood.  He is not really looking for his mother; he is actually looking for his own true self.  His mother’s ambivalent feelings for her son naturally exacerbate his cracked identity, fuel his deep-seated feelings of rejection and insecurity and, inevitably, propel the story towards a shockingly dramatic climax.   

If the film holds together at all, this probably has more to do with the contributions from the leading actors than from the combined efforts of the two directors.  Sophie Cattani and Christine Citti both turn in harrowingly truthful performances as the two mothers, both afflicted with crippling character defects which make it impossible for them to establish any kind of meaningful rapport with Thomas, and Maxime Renard makes a superb debut as the 12-year old Thomas.  As strong as the ensemble is, there is one actor who stands out.  That actor is Vincent Rottiers, who brings a sinister and brooding intensity to his portrayal of the thoroughly mixed up adult Thomas.  You cannot be sure whether his character is a victim looking for a way out of his own personal Hell or a deranged psychopath who is looking for someone to torment.  Rottiers previously distinguished himself in Christophe Ruggia’s Les Diables (2002) and Xavier Giannoli’s À l’origine (2009) and is emerging as one of France’s finest young film actors.

© James Travers 2010-2012

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?