Film Review
With
Martha… Martha…, a haunting,
intensely melancholic portrait of a family scarred by personal crises, Sandrine Veysset
confirms her standing as one of the most significant film directors of her generation.
In the course of three films, beginning with her acclaimed 1996 work,
Y aura-t-il de la neige à Noël?,
Veysset has developed a very individual style which combines harsh social realism with
dark poetry, a style which allows her to tackle social themes with great conviction and
humanity.
Martha… Martha is possibly
her most accomplished film to date; it is certainly her bleakest, most emotionally engaging
work so far.
Mental illness is a subject which is rarely portrayed in cinema, and seldom with
the realism and pathos that it merits.
Martha…Martha
shows us a young woman who experiences a complete psychological collapse, which
was presumably triggered by a series of personal tragedies (these are alluded to in the
film but not shown directly). The destructive effect of mental illness is illustrated
not just in the way that the character of Martha is drawn, but also - and more significantly
- by the way it is born by her nearest and dearest - her loving husband Reymond
and daughter Lise. In spite of the fact that Martha is behaving increasingly irrationally
and selfishly, neither Reymond nor Lise can give her up, and the intensity of their compassion
for her is the thing which makes the film so devastatingly poignant.
Whilst the
film excels in many departments - the sombre cinematography and careful, minimalist
scripting to name just two - its power lies in the exceptional contributions from
its three lead actors. Playing the tormented Martha, Valérie Donzelli conveys
the trauma of depression and violent mood swings with a conviction that makes her character
simultaneously disturbing and tragically moving - yet she remains strangely distant
(like the ghost-like figure she becomes at the end of the film). Yann Goven plays
the film's most sympathetic character, Martha's husband, whose very evident
love allows him to patiently endure the crisis he finds himself thrown into. As
the eight-year old Lise, Lucie Régnier practically steals the film, her fragility
and vulnerability underscoring the destructive nature of her mother's condition,
yet she also exudes a naive compassion that renders her relationship with her mother all
the more poignant. The performances of these three actors are so naturalistic, so
believable, that it is sometimes easy to mistake this piece of film drama for a documentary.
Particularly memorable is the heart-rending sequence in which Lise and Reymond pass Christmas
together, with the mother of the family noticeably - and painfully - absent.
In an era when families are often presented in a negative light, it is a welcome
change to see the family unit portrayed with such tenderness and sincerity, albeit within
the context of a harrowing drama. A few surreal touches (notably the bizarre Grim
Reaper sequence) add to the film's bleak poetry whilst helping to convey the frame
of mind of its protagonists. In her work as a director, Sandrine Veysset shows herself
to be not just a talented artist but also an effective witness to our increasingly fragmented
and troubled society.
© James Travers 2004
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Next Sandrine Veysset film:
L'Histoire d'une mère (2017)
Film Synopsis
Martha is a vulnerable young woman who, after a traumatic childhood, now
finds calm and contentment with her husband Reymond and their little girl,
Lise. Settled though she is, Martha is still troubled by her childhood
recollections, in particular her parents' obvious preference for her sister
Marie. It has been some years since Martha and Marie have seen one
another, and after meeting up in Spain they end up getting into a fierce
argument. On her return to her home in France, Martha appears greatly
disturbed by the encounter.
The young woman's state of mind deteriorates further over the days that follow,
as the painful recriminations of childhood come flooding back to her.
On impulse, she walks away from her family and goes on a mad drinking binge
in town. This irrational act of rebellion ends with her being brutally
raped. With his wife recovering in a psychiatric clinic, Reymond is
left to tend to Lise by himself, which makes it hard for him to continue
with his day job. Even when Martha returns home, apparently cured of
her condition, the family's ordeal is far from over...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.