The Truth •  La Vérité • 2019
Another warm drama with witty undercurrents

Review by Rich Cline,

The Truth may not stand with Hirokazu Kore-eda's best work, but it finds the writer-director revisiting familiar themes with a typically sensitive touch. --Rotton Tomatoes

At 76, Catherine Deneuve can still blow all-comers off a cinema screen, and she does exactly that in Hirokazu Kore-eda's Truth, which playfully explores the vexed relationship between a French film star and her daughter. --Irish Independent

Japanese maestro Hirokazu Kore-eda brings his gentle powers of observation to France for another warm drama with witty undercurrents.



The film has an enjoyably offhanded, relaxed tone, livened up with barbed dialog and spiky character interaction that offer clever insight into the nature of family relationships.

And even if it feels rather slight, it's played to understated perfection by gifted cast who fill each scene with telling details. Just as outspoken veteran actress Fabienne (Deneuve) publishes her memoir The Truth, her New York-based screenwriter daughter Lumir (Binoche) travels to Paris for a visit, accompanied by her actor husband Hank (Hawke) and their observant daughter Charlotte (Grenier).

Convinced her next movie, a sci-fi drama about an ageless woman, will be a bomb, Fabienne is unbothered by Lumir's annoyed reaction to the fibs in her autobiography, such as neglecting to mention her loyal assistant (Libolt) or claiming that Lumir's dad (Van Hool) is dead. But then Fabienne is a master at creating her own reality. "My memories, my book," Fabienne says defiantly.

While prowling around the connections between these people, Kore-eda's script quietly explores how unreliable memories can be, mainly because we are always changing. The film within the film (which is based on a short story by Ken Liu) cleverly toys with this idea using darker drama and an offbeat premise. So Fabienne is taken aback to meet the actress (Sagnier) who plays her character at age 38. Or the even younger actress (Clavel) playing her mother. Indeed, Kore-eda is having fun with the surreal realities of a movie set, subtly touching on bigger themes.

As always, Deneuve commands the screen, layering in fascinating details as a woman who is blithely unapologetic. Binoche meets this with a wonderfully textured turn that captures a range of emotions in her messy relationship with her mother. These two women dance around each other in complex ways, continually shifting roles. The supporting cast remains nicely around the edges, with a standout role for Clavel as the young actress playing the forever-young mother.

This isn't a film about big family melodrama, but rather the microscopic details in lifelong relationships. "Take better care of your entourage," says Fabienne's partner Jacques (Crahay), who knows better than to ever share his true opinions with her.

The catharsis in this film isn't a giant one, but rather something finally spoken aloud with unexpected ripples. It's a lovely story about the everyday accumulation of fiction we accept about ourselves and each other.