Picture of the film BROTHER AND SISTER (FRÈRE ET SOEUR) by Arnaud DESPLECHIN © Shanna Besson
Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud in Brother and Sister (Frère et Sœur) by Arnaud Desplechin
Family bonds and tensions: Arnaud Desplechin is a master in the art of tackling what lies beneath the blood ties. Sixteen years after the agonies of the Vuillard family in A Christmas Tale (Un Conte de Noël), he brings Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud together to battle it out on screen in Brother and Sister (Frère et Sœur), the director's seventh film in Competition.
She's an actor, he's a writer. Alice and Louis go out of their way to avoid one another, and have harboured a mutual hatred for the past twenty years. But when their parents die in a car accident, they are forced to come together, sharing perspectives, talking, and facing up to the deeply rooted resentment that stands between them.
Arnaud Desplechin shines a light on intense sadness fuelled by rivalry and jealousy. Yet initially, there was love between Alice and Louis. Perhaps too much love. How did they get to this stage? And can they ever overcome it? As the pitch-perfect narrative unfolds, the director leads us through a nimble treasure hunt without ever force-feeding us answers to the questions.
In Brother and Sister (Frère et Sœur) more than any other film perhaps, Desplechin lets the body do the talking. As the camera watches on, the actors fall, gloat, rip one another to shreds:
“I think that’s what film is all about. The violence of the film’s feelings and events spills over, and it shows in the body. When actors give me their all, I am overwhelmed.”
In Marion Cotillard and Melvil Poupaud, the director chose a hard-hitting pair capable of delivering intense looks and glances underpinned by subtle deftness. They are joined by Golshifteh Farahani, Patrick Timsit and Benjamin Siksou in a film that captures human passion to perfection.
