La vie promise (2002) User Reviews (19)

Huppert shines as down-and-out prostitute

[Buddy-51 · 7/10 · 4 March 2005]

Isabelle Huppert gives a superb performance as a pill-popping prostitute in "La Vie Promise," a slice-of-life, hard luck tale set on the highways and byways of rural France. Huppert is Sylvia, a hooker in Nice with a fourteen year old daughter named Laurence, whose existence the jaded streetwalker would prefer not to acknowledge even though Sylvia does give her money on a regular basis. One night, however, Laurence forces herself into her mother's life by stabbing to death the pimp who is thrashing Sylvia to within an inch of her life for some money she owes him. The two women hop aboard a train in an effort to disappear into the countryside. One night, Laurence runs away after the two of them have an argument. Much of the film's time is devoted to the mother and daughter's search for one another, often missing each other by a mere fraction of a second. Joshua is a man whom Sylvia and Laurence meet separately on the road and who, in his strangely quiet way, becomes instrumental in reconciling - both physically and psychologically - the estranged pair.

"La Vie Promise" has a simplicity of style and a purity of vision that keep it from becoming just another tale of a down-and-out prostitute or a tired generation gap drama. Sylvia is a complex character, a hurt and lost soul trying to come to grips with the mistakes she's made and hoping to rectify at least some of those mistakes in this crucial moment of her life. Huppert does a beautiful job conveying both the emotional turmoil and the latent nobility hidden within the recesses of her wounded psyche. The screenplay doesn't try to psychoanalyze the character completely, but allows her to retain much of the mystery and ambiguity that makes her, finally, interesting to the audience. The film does less well with Laurence who really isn't allowed a whole lot of psychological development throughout the story. As a result, young Maud Forget isn't given much opportunity to display her depth and scope as an actress. Pascal Greggory's Joshua is also kept enigmatic, but in his case the ambiguity works well in the context of the story.

The film has been beautifully photographed, and Oliver Dahan's direction contains many lyrical touches that turn the film into a compelling mood piece, employing nature as a prime element in its artistry. But it is Huppert's rich and many-layered performance that brings the film to life.

Another Bravura performance by Huppert

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 7 December 2007]

In a recent interview, Dustin Hoffman (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) was talking about his upcoming film, Last Chance Harvey. He described it as "the kind of film that has been coming out for years in France...We don't believe in middle-aged love stories." Why wait for Hoffman's film next year, when you can see the amazing Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, The Bedroom Window), who was an incredible looking 49 when she made this film.

OK, a slowly unfolding relationship between Huppert and Pascal Greggory, the same age, doesn't appeal to you. You would rather drool over Keira Knightley, Emily Blunt, Ellen Page or Megan Fox. But, to dismiss one of the truly great actresses of our time would be a mistake.

Like many, I love on-the-edge-of-your-seat action and dazzling special effects, but there are time when I just want to sit back with a special beverage and let beautiful cinematography, soothing music, and brilliant acting slowing wash over me. Olivier Dahan's (La Vie en rose, Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse) film fits the bill perfectly.

The language of flowers, or life on the road.

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 23 March 2004]

Like a lot of contemporary French cinema, this film doesn't lack ideas, however, the execution and finished product sometimes make no sense, or illuminate the story. It's not for a lack of styles that Olivier Dahan can be blamed on what we are seeing. He has a lot of different methods about how he wants to present them, but it only adds to the confusion, as things happen unexpectedly. He never bothers to explain why they got that way.

First of all, it is very strange that Sylvia's teen age daughter, Laurence, suddenly pops up in her mother's life. Sylvia could not care less about the girl. The accidental killing of one of Sylvia's pimps, make mother and daughter flee the scene of the crime and take to the back roads of Southern France. This is a case where crime, even if involuntary, does pay. The end of the story feels false, as we watch the three principals going into the sunset. Could this trio have found the secret for happiness? Stay tuned, or better yet, smell the flowers!

The acting is fine. Isabelle Huppert shows her usual intensity and is convincing as the prostitute. Maud Forget, as the teen age daughter does her part well and Pascal Greggory, as the man that enters into both mother and daughter's lives is effective as the man who seems to bring peace between both.

Gripping performances, weak script, nice shots.

[rudymovie · 20 November 2003]

This movie is held upright by the acting work of the main characters. Especially Isabelle Huppert exceeds herself once again, in portraying a weird persona , not the first time she achieved this. She is unsurpassable in acting out emotional developments within a story. Her meeting with her small son, she did not see for years, towards the end of the story, is gripping. It is not often cinema brings tears to me... Pascal Gregory is better than many middle of the road Hollywood actors, we see every night on TV (commercial TV in Holland at least). Our minds having been spoiled by too many cheap US products, thanks to TV, this French film is refreshing in its camera shooting. After so many road movies in the US Far West, who would believe similar shots may be made in the French "corn deserts" north of Paris? (Just get off, anywhere, from the A-1 auto route, between Paris and Lille, and see what I mean). Once again good use is made of the French richness in "patrimoine', meaning old village locations, and, as a peak, the old country farm house, the main character grew up in. What a great ruin, an ideal Parisians holiday home!! The weak points, I think at least, are mainly in the script, and casting. Sylvia's daughter, is partly miscasted, as she is the opposite to Sylvia, in looks and character. The storyline resembles a cheap love-novel sometimes, in its sentimentality. Nevertheless, a fine example of French "authors'" film making, in a natural style only the French can make.

Healing One Self...!

[rodolfoIII · 7/10 · 2 January 2005]

Think this film demonstrates the power of reconciliation with one self. Seems like just about every person in this film has some kind of imperfection that they must confront in order to keep on living. They must deal with situations they put themselves into,the actions taken (good or bad)then decide on a solution. These are the decisions Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert), Laurence (Maud Forget) and Joshua (Pascal Gregory) must answer only to themselves on this road film in which coincidently is a trip in which forces them to define themselves. Eventually they choose a path in which they must reveal themselves, while cracking through their hard exterior created by their experiences in life. Isabelle Huppert has typically chosen some very challenging roles but on this film, she utilizes her actions, body language and facial expression to reflect a woman that has been broken (due to her choices) for so long that the only way for her to keeping living is to confront her past full-force. All of us has something that we don't like about ourselves! This films shows us that there is redemption for our sins, which ever it may be.

Very unpleasant but also exceptional

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 19 January 2009]

If I were solely scoring this film based on how much I enjoyed watching it or what I personally thought about the main characters, then this film would get an exceptionally low score. That's because the main character (played by Isabelle Huppert) is one of the most selfish and unlikable ladies I've seen in a film and watching the sick relationship between her and her daughter was often quite painful.

When the film begins, you find that Huppert is a prostitute and the film makers really made her up well for the part. She had a world-worn and sad quality about her and it was obvious she'd spend years walking the streets. Seemingly out the the blue, Huppert's 14 year-old comes for a visit. You assume the teen is in foster care and Huppert responds incredibly harshly towards her--telling her she wanted nothing to do with her. Yet, despite being rebuffed, the child insists on coming home with her. A bit later, Huppert's pimp and another goon show up and begin beating her severely. The child, not surprisingly, comes to her mother's aid and is almost raped. Almost, because she instinctively grabs a knife and kills her attacker.

All this happens in just the beginning of the film and much of the rest of the film consists of them running from Nice. At first they wander purposely but later Huppert gets a crazy notion to look up her ex-husband and the 8 year-old she'd abandoned just after birth. This is very, very ironic as she is seeking to re-establish a bond with the boy yet at the same time shows all the motherly instincts of a rabid hamster!! You would have a hard time finding a less nurturing and vicious mother towards the girl--who, throughout most of the film, is treated like a burden and nothing more. Although all this is very sick and disturbing, you sure have to salute Huppert for not choosing an easy character or taking the Hollywood approach to making the lady a "hooker with a heart of gold".

My only gripes about the film are about the difficult to believe plot twists as well as the somewhat pat ending. You see, at one point Huppert abandons her daughter in the countryside and the teen just happens to meet up with a runaway criminal. Now you'd sure think he'd rape the girl or rob her or at least be indifferent. Instead, he abandons his plans and acts like a big brother towards her--as well as towards Huppert when they eventually find her--even giving them money when they finally part. This just didn't ring very true and seemed a bit like wishful thinking--as did the very end where, after all this horrible emotional abuse, there is a hopeful scene of tenderness between the mother and daughter. While I was often disgusted with the characters, I wish the film actually hadn't copped out--and allowed Huppert to continue rejecting her daughter throughout the film. This blindness to her own issues and parallel with the son is so fascinating and was slightly blunted as a result of the film makers unfortunately pulling a few punches. Usually, this unwillingness to create a ridiculously happy ending is one of the strengths of French films, but here at the last minute, they bowed to convention--and the film lost a couple points in my review because of this.

Overall, unpleasant but interesting. Plus, this film is definitely Huppert's and she does a masterful job with what the writers gave her.

coming of age movie for an adult, in reverse.

[tijdelijk12 · 7/10 · 22 May 2004]

No, this is not a masterpiece. And no, I have not seen any other movies with Isabelle Huppert. Be that as it may, her acting did amaze me. I will look for other movies with her.

This is a kind of coming of age movie for an adult, in reverse.

When the prostitute Sylvia has to flee Nice, because her illegitimate and ignored daughter killed her pimp, she has nowhere to go accept an old girl friend. This friend suggests she visits her years earlier abandoned going-to-be-husband and son in the North of France. The trip, in which she loses and finds her daughter, makes her realize her live has been worthless and loveless. She also realizes that she has to accept her past and herself if she wants to start a new and better life. The beautiful landscape is very effective in underlining that message.

However, this movie is also quite slow. Although the character Sylvia is interesting and complex, the other characters lack depth and development for this to be a excellent movie. Also, being a many sided woman, Sylvia reminded me of Henry Miller's idea of Mona in the first book of The Rosy Crucifixion.

Clichés, bad acting, no script

[brunorlenzi · 1/10 · 18 September 2011]

A great effort to get to the end. Mainly motivated by a review that claimed the end was not cliché I did not find the happiest ending but not surprise either.

The movie is full of clichés and desperate attempts to provoke tears with shots of beautiful French landscapes accompanied with a mixture of US country and classical (loud) music. As a result, the thoughts and dialogues are hard to follow during these which is maybe for the best.

The weak script relies on a remarkable amount of coincidences and helpful people on Isabelle Huppert's journey for redemption. Although not in her best performance she is the only one acting here.

The Promise of Life

[fha-2 · 9/10 · 20 April 2004]

"La Vie Promise" ("The Promised Life") is among the French actress' Isabelle Huppert's finest accomplishments. This amazing masterpiece presents Huppert in a character, which is a combination abrasiveness and vulnerability, she is both exasperating and at the same time pathetic, monstrous, and saintly. It is difficult to envision another actress who could embrace the complexity of her character and yet still present her persona in such an intriguing paradigm of humanity who magically captures our full attention while taking our breath away.

It seems palpably unfair when such other female film stars as Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, or Renee Zellweger win Academy Awards, whereas Isabelle Huppert has never been nominated for an Oscar. Over the last thirty years, this effervescent French actress has put forth a series of remarkable performances, capturing every aspects of the human experience with style and panache. Check out her brilliant performances in "Madame Bovary," `Merci pour le Chocolat' and "The Piano Player" or the delightful weirdness of "8 Women'.

Huppert's role is that of Sylvia, a sullen prostitute walking the streets of Nice in France, seemingly frozen in time with an obsolete sense of her rebellious prerogative. When the cameras dolly in for a close-up, her heavy cosmetic attempt to preserve the illusion of youth reveal their exercise in futility. Her brittle, oftentimes hostile attitude is typical of what one would expect of a seasoned hooker.

Sylvia seems in charge of her life until the appearance of her 14-year-old epileptic daughter Laurence (Maud Forget). Laurence is in foster care and Sylvia would prefer to have her out of her life, which becomes obvious by her callous rejection and disrespect even though it was Laurence's birthday. Laurence, desperate for attention, turns up again unexpectedly in Sylvia's apartment and observes her mother's pimp pummeling her. When the pimp's associate turns his attention to Laurence by sexually attacking her, she fatally stabs him, thus compelling mother and daughter to hastily leave town.

Eight years earlier, Sylvia had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized after giving birth to a son. The boy's father (whether he was married to her or not is not clear) lived in the north of France. Out of some sort of mysterious compulsion, she and Laurence journey North, traveling by train, on foot and hitching rides with strangers; in order to seek out her long abandoned son and his father, who represent perhaps a new beginning or sanctuary. It is on this journey that mother and daughter begin to experience each other as the seeds of love kindle what had been lost over the harsh years. While hitchhiking they encounter Joshua, (Pascal Greggory), a car thief and escaped convict who has taken an interest in the well being of Sylvia and Laurence and ultimately takes the time to bring them to their final destination.

The film has the inspiring appeal of a half-told chronicle where significant and intriguing passages are casually left unexplained. The full meaning and resolution of Sylvia's relationship with Laurence and Joshua's criminal career remain delightfully obscured; leaving us just enough information to maintain our interest, yet preserving the mystery that tweaks our attention. The audience must search their own repertoires of imaginations to conclude the story.

Director Olivier Dahan is daring enough to bring his camera into tight close-ups leaving Huppert's character displayed in unflattering poses while wearing harsh make-up and in poor lighting. Huppert does not attempt hide behind the cheap make-up in order to present a good performance. Her talent is sufficiently powerful to reveal Sylvia's inner strength and bring her true character bubbling to the surface. Her painted exterior suggests one stereotype while her eyes tell yet another story. This is an extraordinary film not to be missed.

The flow of the ghost river

[DennisLittrell · 8/10 · 25 December 2005]

The story here is a little bit specious and even cloying at times. Isabelle Huppert plays Sylvia, a druggie prostitute who seems to care only about her booze and pills. She plies her trade on the streets of Nice. Her 14-year-old daughter, Laurence (Maud Forget) appears out of nowhere, having run away from her foster home. Sylvia tells her to get lost. She doesn't, and in the next scene, trying to protect her mother from a couple of pimps who are starting to beat her up for some money, the 14-year-old somehow stabs one of them. The other runs out the door. The stabbed man is dead, and mother and daughter are on the run as in a Hollywood on the lam movie.

I don't think I need to tell the reader that mom is going to find the love she really feels for her daughter in addition to finding her own heart, and so I won't, because it isn't that simple. The story though is rather ordinary and predictable and is told with a number of loose ends just left lying about, not the least of which is the dead man.

No matter however because: (1) Isabelle Huppert is brilliant and very convincing as a low-class, trashy kind of person who lies almost habitually, even when she doesn't need to, a person lacking social skills or really any kind of skill. Her hair is too too blonde and she dresses like a tramp.

But it is amazing how comfortable Huppert looks in the role. Again I am very much impressed with her ability. I wonder if there is a more talented actress working anywhere in the world today. She is almost obsessive in the way she becomes the characters she plays. I've seen her in half a dozen films and in everyone she was a distinctly different person.

(2) The movie is beautifully shot with arresting scenes of earth and sky, unlike anything one usually sees in a domestic French movie.

(3) The music, some of it American country and western, some of it classical, was wonderfully chosen and coordinated with the story of the film in a way that enhances our appreciation. That is what is usually attempted of course. The idea being that music should help to trigger our response; but often the attempt is only halfhearted or too obviously directive. Here the music helps to bring the film to life.

(4) The story is uplifting and redemptive.

One more thing: the title in English, The Promise Life, is not a good translation of what is intended by the French, La Vie Promise. Better would be "The Promised Life," although that would be inaccurate. Also unsatisfactory would be "The Life of Promise." What I like is the title sometimes given to the film, "Ghost River." There is a beautiful line in the film that refers to "The flow of the ghost river" that I think somehow illustrates the life Sylvia has lead.

By all means see this beautiful if somewhat sentimental film for Isabelle Huppert, one of the great stars of the modern cinema.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Isabelle Huppert: An Amazingly Fine Actress in a Glowing Role

[gradyharp · 10/10 · 16 July 2006]

LA VIE PROMISE is one of those films that begs multiple viewings: the cinematography is truly an art form here, the story though incredibly well told (written by director/ co-author Olivier Dahan with Agnès Fustier-Dahan) requires integration of the viewer's thinking to capture the interstices of understated depth of the tale, an the acting of Isabelle Huppert is simply one of the finest moment on film. Rave review? Yes, and well deserved! Sylvia (Huppert, who has never been more beautiful before the camera) is a prostitute with an edge in Nice: she accepts her profession but acts with the elements of a seasoned streetwalker, always fully in charge of any situation. She is a woman with a past. She was once married to Piotr (Andre Marcon) in northern France (Viale) but had a nervous breakdown eight years ago concurrent with the birth of her son, the apparent reason for her fleeing to Nice. Now her teenage epileptic daughter Laurence (Maud Forget) appears, having been scattered through foster homes because her mother doesn't want her around, and Sylvia once again throws her out. But Laurence is hiding in Sylvia's flat when her pimp visits demanding money, and Laurence kills him. The mother and daughter then flee Nice afraid of the murder consequences and travel toward northern France by walking hitchhiking, bus - any means possible to avoid the police. Sylvia has decided to search for her eight-year old son and for Piotr, hoping they may afford them protection. Along the way they meet Joshua (Pascal Greggory), an escaped convict who befriends them and encourages the growing bond between mother and daughter and eventually provides their arrival at their destination. The concluding moments of the story are the stuff of great drama and should not be revealed to the viewer.

Throughout the film the integration of art photography and music enhances the mood of the story: Bach, Mendelssohn, Debussy and mixed with contemporary American blues and the mixture deserves a CD release. But the overriding star of this entire production is the radiant Isabelle Huppert, one of our finest actresses of today, in a role that, though nearly impossible to make credible, in Huppert's hands becomes a woman whose damaged psyche becomes permanently imprinted on our memories. It is a tour de force of acting of the highest caliber. Highly Recommended to lovers of Art Films. Grady Harp

dissociative amnesia

[decroissance · 9/10 · 15 February 2011]

Isabelle Huppert's character is neither brain-damaged nor schizophrenic. She suffers from what the DSM IV terms "dissociative amnesia". Some people just call it dissociation. The popular term for this phenomenon is repressed memories; however, professionals no longer use that term because it is inaccurate and fraught with misperceptions.

My interpretation of this character's history is this: At some point in her past, before she married her husband and had children, she experienced something which was so traumatic, terrifying, and threatening to her sense of safety and existence,that she had to lose awareness of it in order to not lose her mind. She had a breakdown later on and entered the psychiatric hospital. She got married and things were going okay for awhile but then something triggered the old trauma and she became dissociative again. She left her husband, started a new life and "forgot" all about her old life. She became emotionally shut down and empty because at this point she only functioned with a small amount of her emotional make-up. She had to shut the rest of it down because it contained knowledge that was too threatening for her to know about.

Then she has to run away because of the murder and she re-reads the letters from her ex-husband and slowly starts regaining awareness of that part of her life. However, she still can't remember the original trauma that caused all her problems. When she arrives back at the old house, images and impressions of her life there flood through her mind as if from a dream. This is what memories lost through dissociation are like when they come back. The director evoked this experience pretty accurately. I wanted to tell friends that if they want to see what it's like to remember things that one has lost through dissociation, to see this movie.

She lost the memory of her husband and her life with him because in some way that experience connected to the earlier, unbearable trauma.

She goes back to the psychiatric hospital because she wants to know about her past. She wants to know what happened during her marriage and also what the original trauma was.

I am not pulling this out of the air. For someone knowledgeable about dissociative amnesia, the clues in the movie are obvious.

For one thing, the husband refers in his letter to "that old trouble", or something like that. He says something like, "I know how fragile you are, but I thought that old trouble was behind you..." I can't remember exactly what he says. As I understood it, he was referring to trouble caused by traumatic experiences early in her life. Others may believe he's talking about mental illness such as schizophrenia, but they are incorrect. I'd have to see the film again to argue this point more effectively. However, there's too much else in this movie that makes it clear her problem is dissociation, not schizophrenia.

I can make this case with confidence because this character's story mirrors my own in many ways. The idea that a person can forget events central to her life because they call up old emotions and traumas, which she needed to block out, is not far-fetched. It happened to me. I did forget a significant person, as well as the events and emotions connected with him. I did read his letters years later, and when I did, I started to remember our relationship of 27 years previously. I did find him and after I did, I gradually remembered most of what our relationship had been and who he was. When I called him out of the blue, he told me he had been in love with me all his life. He had never married. Now, he has moved on, after we talked at length about what had happened and I explained to him why I had broken up with him in the terrible way that I did.

When I remembered the relationship I'd had with him, all the emotions connected with it felt as if they'd happened last week, not 27 years ago.

I too have been wanting to remember the details of the original trauma. I had started remembering it before I remembered the old boyfriend. A lot of it has come back, but not all. I think that Isabelle's character probably did get at least some of the answers she was looking for. The fact that the audience didn't get these answers only means that the specific reason she dissociated in the first place is not the most important part of the story.

What's important is the story that came after -- how it affected her and her family, what they all lost, and how she recovered her full self.

It's also about how people need love to heal and how love enables us to heal each other.

Very moving, starts one way, ends another. Not a cliché by end.

[dougjn · 10/10 · 24 February 2007]

Only the final short paragraph has spoilers.

I found this movie to be greatly moving. I'm not such an easy sell on those sorts of emotions in films. I love films, all sorts of films. It's not so hard for me to like a movie for something (yeaah Pauline Kael). But deeply moving? I don't say or feel that so often.

It starts oh so differently than it end.

We begin with a beautiful but aging in her line of work (mid 40s) and clearly the worse for wear lower end prostitute (but not lowest) being roughed up, though mostly threatened, by a pimp over a large debt, perhaps money stolen from him, which we are lead to believe he thinks she really does owe. Aside from our natural sympathy for beautiful women being roughed up by brutish men, she also seems brave but overwhelmed. However, we also think given her former and to a degree present beauty she must be a woman of base instincts (probably sex and thrill submission addicted) and little to no self control, who has been bottom feeding for a long time. So one settles into the likely somewhat lurid tale of a woman being taken advantage of, who though she shouldn't be brutalized, maybe is more interesting as an object of pretty base lust, who we can hope will clean up enough to be more inspiring in that regard.

As I said it transitions into something very different.

We end up learning that while all our first impressions were probably more or less true, it came about for reasons very different than we thought, given the standard range of cinematic scenarios for this plight -- overwhelming drug addition, childhood and continuing thereafter abuse at the hands of controlling males, or blackmail inducing submission to sexual debasement, and then once barriers have been crossed and self image destroyed, descent into hopelessly self destructive thrills of the moment. And yes there are signs that some of these things (not saying which to avoid spoilers here) may have been part of her story. But not the crucial, breaking part. It was something else that caused the initial descent, or rather initiated two or more lengthy descents. Once we realize that and what it was, it has real plausibility and becomes an aaah-hah - there may be quite a few, maybe pretty many, cases like hers out there.

The ending is a sort of French Hollywood ending. More reasonable and settling than the prototypical Hollywood ending, but just right and hopeful and plausible. None of us can be sure it will work out but who among us doesn't hope that it will?

Oh – and most of the on screen men, after the initial scenes, are good guys with the power and moxie to be otherwise to this vulnerable and once (and possibly once again) beautiful woman. Which is refreshing.

BIG SPOILERS-DON'T READ IF HAVEN'T SEEN: One last thing. Well more than half the user reviewers don't seem to realize that she's intermittently SERIOUSLY mentally ill. Schizophrenic episodes with memory loss I'd guess. Is she on prescribed psychotropic pills otherwise to stay in remission? We aren't shown. The director may be vague or wrong about the exact science, but that's the MESSAGE! Geeezee.

There's no there there, even with Huppert

[Chris Knipp · 26 April 2004]

`La Vie promise' is the sad, meandering and stillborn tale of a streetwalker with a shattered brain who, in a moment of danger, flees from Nice into the country and tries in vain to return to an old lover and child and time when the life`promised' her had been much rosier. This is very far from being Isabelle Huppert's best work, simply because the journey chronicled in `La Vie Promise' is lacking in coherence and momentum. Huppert is always impressive, but the movie just isn't up to her remarkable talents and can't adequately display them. One can only assume she took on the role of Sylvia because it seemed a challenge to become a rough whore with bad hair. Her presence never ceases to be arresting, her face a glorious tacky ruin framed by bleach blond strands, white lipstick, and desperate blank stare. There are moments when one can enjoy just looking into those cold, beautiful eyes. But time passes slowly.

It's not that the other principals aren't both good. They're Maud Forget as Laurence, Sylvia's older daughter, who accompanies her – sporadically: they keep abandoning each other and then in far fetched coincidences re-connecting -- on the voyage back in search of the lost life, and Pascal Greggory as Joshua, a mysterious man with a prison past and a car theft present (why does he seem so sensitive and nice?) who chooses to accompany the two women and be their driver. Joshua too goes off, but then comes back to drive them again at the end. This is the movie's signature move: dump people, then pick them up again – if you can. There's not much hope and ultimately not much point to these people's desperate lives. The patchy, disorganized plot repeatedly destroys the energy and emotion the scenes between Sylvia, Laurence, Joshua, et al. have built up. This is a clumsily assembled story that no amount of emoting can save.

Surely the challenge for Huppert was to enter a rougher world than usual and cast off her usual hauteur and elegance, and in the early scenes indeed she's barely recognizable. But as time wears on the imperious gestures return and Huppert is Huppert again; the smallest details like the way she holds a cigarette become glamorous and confident, as in other roles – even as her character loses energy and hope and the `promise' of arriving at some kind of powerful finale gradually fades. The movie, like Huppert's mask as the damaged, desperate Sylvia, also deconstructs, because its emotional climax – the scene when Sylvia at last finds Piotr (André Marcon), the man who once loved her but now is raising their eight-year-old son with a new wife, is just a sad little moment that sits ill with the Hallmark card, David Hamilton soft focus and flower images that have characterized most of the outdoor scenery.

The irrelevant prettiness of these flower moments is as grating as the corny American songs that are periodically interjected to crudely underline some plot point. But what point? We get that Laurence has some kind of illness, but is it chronic indigestion or epilepsy? Sylvia turns out to have spent time in a sanitorium, and so we gather that she's brain damaged, which makes recognition scenes pretty much non-starters. What's wrong with her, and why she can't remember former neighbors and other people in her old life but knows Piotr and instantly bonds with the son she hasn't seen since he was two, are not questions M. Dahan is able to answer for us. Somehow the lack of a back-story doesn't make a story.

So What's a Mother to Do?

[lawprof · 8/10 · 12 March 2004]

Sylvia, played by one of France's and contemporary cinema's finest actresses, Isabelle Huppert, has a busy life. Between booze and pills she turns tricks in Nice. Still very attractive but past the elegant call girl scene, if ever she was there, Sylvia joins other ladies of the night by a curb waiting for drive-by Johns. She seems somewhat discriminating in her choice of patrons.

What she doesn't have time or caring for is fourteen-year-old daughter, Laurence, performed by a very intense and sharp Maud Forget. Sylvia basically tells Laurence to get lost when she appears at mom's building for a visit. Fortunately the teen sneaks into her apartment while mom's still trolling the street because Sylvia has unwelcome visitors after a hard night's hooking: two money-hunting thugs.

These guys aren't nice and quick-acting Laurence intercedes decisively to end the encounter. However, Sylvia realizes the two better blow the town fast. Sylvia has a long-time aversion to the police and the problem in her flat virtually guarantees they would be interested in talking with her.

What follows is a twist on the mother/daughter inevitable conflict, guaranteed to be positively resolved road-trip flick (phew). The two argue and separate and Laurence is lucky enough to be picked up by Joshua, a genuinely kind, non-lecherous, gun-toting professional car thief who's been inside for a while. Joshua helps Laurence, who has a serious medical problem of her own, to be reunited with her mom. The three then seek Sylvia's former husband and the father of their little boy missing from the mother's life for at least six years (Laurence, we're told, was the product of a "quick screw" with a guy whose name Sylvia doesn't even know).

What sets "La Vie promise" apart from many "mom, I need your love," "daughter, get out of my life" films is the intense acting by the three principal characters, shaped by director Olivier Dahan with a strong and sure hand. Huppert, as always, is stunningly brilliant, her character subtly underlined with shades of emotional trauma. But she couldn't have pulled it off as effectively without the insightful portrayal of an emotionally bruised teen provided by Ms. Forget.

The cinematography is excellent and the background often mirrors the characters' moods.

There aren't very many surprises but this is an actor's film and it projects subdued but engrossing drama very well.

8/10

Beautiful to watch

[bobkathuds-1 · 8/10 · 27 May 2006]

While it's OK to read some of the subtitles, the most important part of this movie is just watching the beautiful cinematography and it's more than worth the time. If you just have to read the subtitles, then watch it a second time for the pictures. Note the scenes where there is a poppy or other flower in the foreground with a wide sky or tree shot in the background, sometimes all in focus and sometimes with a dreamy quality to the entire shot. Wannabe film makers should watch this move for this as they will find few movies, French or otherwise, that will measure up to this. There's nothing wrong with the story, either. The story is a bit like a Rorschach (inkblot) Test. You are given enough to allow your mind/brain/personality to fill in the details with whatever your needs are at the moment.

ghosts

[petershelleyau · 14 June 2003]

After bombarbing us with his music video special effects - hand-held and subjective camera, blackouts, voice-memories, home-movies, out of focus, fake rear-projection, and voice-overs, director Olivier Dahan has the sense in his climax to simply concentrate on the face of his leading lady, giving her no dialogue.

As Sylvie, a Nice street prostitute, Isabelle Huppert wears blonde dyed hair, blue fingernails, white eye make-up, pink lipstick, totters on high heels and pops pills. The blondeness matches Huppert's freckles, and her tartiness suggests a Euro Marilyn Monroe, with a dirty mouth. Sylvie gets laughs from the inappropriateness of her being the mother of 14 year old Laurence (Maud Forget), who suddenly appears to her mother and is involved in a death that recalls Cheryl Crane's killing of Johnny Stompanato. Together Sylvie and Laurence flee in search of Sylvie's husband Piotr (Andre Marcon) who lives in Viale.

The screenplay by Agnes Fustier-Dahan has some amusing touches, when Sylvie and Laurence are separated (though Laurence leaves Sylvie perhaps too often) and both of them get car rides from a car thief, Joshua (Pascal Greggory) at different times. Joshua and Laurence just miss spotting Sylvie, and Sylvie gets a lift from another car whose driver turns out to be a cop. Joshua is eventually used to give their triangle a conventional ending, which though could have been worse. However Laurence's bleeding seizures are never explained, other than being the result of having a prostitute for a mother. Sylvie is said to have a memory problem, and though we are never told why exactly she abandoned Piotr and their son, Yannis, her visit to a psychiatric institute suggests she went nuts and her prostitution is the best she can handle now, and of course, also her punishment. (The beating that Sylvie gets that brings about the killing from which they have to flee is evidence that her life is no Pretty Woman). Although the screenplay's use of the metaphor of a home that has burned down is clear, the ghost river that sits beside Piotr's house and the use of flowers remain somewhat obtuse.

Before the climax, Huppert has a few good moments. A look of irony when told the car driver is a cop, her reaction to meeting a nurse at the psychiatric institute who asks her about Yannis, and her heartbreaking tears when faced with the child who does not remember her.

wayfaring stranger

[septimus_millenicom · 8/10 · 10 March 2024]

All flowers nurse a secret sorrow. Some boast hopes and dreams. They sing to us in voiceover, foreshadowing the mood swings in Olivier Dahan's hypnotic ballad.

All blonde-mother-son movies come from one source. _La vie Promise_ inverts _Paris,Texas_'s journey: amnesiac Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert) retraces her path to long-lost husband-and-son, while Laurence (Maud Forget), the daughter by her side, is left chasing her across France. Faded polaroids and grainy home videos (Sylvia in a cowboy hat) are bread crumbs, all that is left of her memory.

All men are poor wayfaring strangers. Joshua (Pascal Gregory, more soulful than we have seen him) is Laurence's guardian angel, then the mother's confessional priest. He dresses the part too. Of course he turns out to be an ex-con. Knighting himself, he escorts his Ladies over River Jordan.

All of Sylvia's wardrobe is stunning and out-of-place. Chinese silk, high heels, grey nails: a street walker's getup in rural France as she travels back in time. She finds haunted villages in the mist, long-forgotten neighbors, her burnt-down bridal home. The Virgin Mary statuette still stands, a miracle.

All pastoral scenes are painterly rendered by day, anamorphic golden fields against dense verdant trees. At night ghostly rivers sparkle, those are neon blue. The interior scenes are also blue, and filled with terror, unless they are red, or some other flowers' eerie color. It is as though the characters cannot bear to face themselves indoors. The clever camera movement makes the lighting pop, flashing out warnings like UFOs. (Talented cinematographer Alex Lamarque would die young.)

All music is mournful pop, florid and overripe, until it resolves into quiet strings. The trio arrive at the edge of the world; Sylvia earns her redemption. The ending feels purified, rinsed in cold water, as the protagonists double back on the open road. Can they now face themselves when they run out of asphalt? A lone wildflower sways in the wind, and poses the question.

she is nothing, and now she knows it

[Elizabeth Nolan · 22 May 2004]

Films can put too much on the screen, or too little. For many LA VIE PROMISE puts too little. Personally, I prefer too little; I can always fill in what I need to make sense, enjoy, understand, etc. Fortunately, in LVP, Isabelle Huppert's face tells the whole story. She's a woman who is looking for her life and thought she found it in her medical record (she was hospitalized in a psychiatric institution). She senses she lost her memory, but learns that she had lost nothing. This is a woman who has no substance, and if you don't understand what that means, you won't appreciate this film. Hers is a great tragedy, a double tragedy; she is nothing, and now she knows it. Still, she grasps at life and may.... I first saw LVP in JAN2004 at the PSIFF and was glad to fill in more with another viewing.