Wednesday, April 19, 2023

French Movie Mercredi: Un beau matin (2022)

 

Un beau matin (2022). Dir: Mia Hansen-Love. Starring Léa Seydoux and Pascal Greggory.

Un beau matin, or One Fine Morning, is a sweet and moving film about a single mother, Sandra, who is trying to find a good nursing home for her ailing father and navigate parenthood and love five years after the death of her husband. 

Sandra, played by Léa Seydoux, works as a translator and has a young daughter named Linn. Her father Georg is a philosophy professor suffering from some version of dementia who has gone blind and is rapidly losing the ability to care for himself. When the film opens Sandra is facing up to the very daunting task of finding him an appropriate and affordable place for full-time care.

At the same time, she bumps into an old friend, a married man named Clément, and the two launch into a romantic relationship. It may or may not succeed.

One Fine Morning is a very affecting movie, bittersweet and complicated, and Seydoux is luminous in a role that could not possibly be more different than the one she plays in France, which I talked about last week. I'm not sure she even wears makeup at all! It's a far cry from the many glamorous or historical roles she often takes, more like some of her earlier work but instead of playing a confused teen she's grown up and is playing a full grown woman finding her way. 

Highly recommended. 

One Fine Morning Available to stream on mulitple platforms.

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