Les murs porteurs
I loved this film! It was recently shown at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. One of the main characters, Judith (played by Miou Miou), is a Parisian divorcée whose mother is slipping into a world of memories. Judith is facing middle age, her brother Simon (played by Charles Berling) prefers not to face anything. Frida, their mother (played by Shulamit Adar), a Holocaust survivor, increasingly confuses the present with a past they have no access to. Frida repeatedly visits their previous home, looking for her husband who's passed away some time ago. The family is renting the old apartment and Simon meets the current tenant (a thirty-something successful business woman) when he picks up his mother from one of her excursions. A relationship between the two develops. Simon, who's also divorced, grapples with fatherhood and tries to connect with his teenage daughter, who lives with her mother. Judith is also dealing with her teenage son who recently moved into his own studio apartment. As Frida's dementia progresses Judith and Simon have to make crucial decisions. What I liked most about this film is the happy ending. Even though Frida, the mother, is lost in her world of yesteryear, the rest of the family starts a new cycle of life. 10 out 10! If this movie gets released into theatres, don't miss it! It's engrossing, poignant, and brilliantly directed.
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