Jealousy (La Jalousie) [2013]

While numerous filmmakers, over the years, have made intensely personal movies borne out of facets and episodes from their own lives, Garrel arguably stands out in how nakedly autobiographical nearly his entire filmography has been; no wonder, also, the striking resemblance to Hong Sang-soo in the staggering tonal and thematic homogeneity of their respective oeuvres. His ravishing, engrossing and deeply intimate film Jealousy – the first chapter in his loosely connected ‘Trilogy on Fidelity’ which also comprised of two other magnificent films, viz. In the Shadow of Women and Lover for a Day – hence, along with serving as a beginning to the afore-mentioned trilogy, it was also, in many ways, a hark back to his earlier ‘Autobiographical Series’ (L'Enfant Secret, Les Baisers de Secours, J’Entends plus la Guitare, etc.) where he portrayed aspects of his life by casting people from his life (his father Maurice, his ex-lover Nico, his then wife Brigitte Sy, etc.). This loop was manifested here too, given that it both begins and ends with the breakdown of relationships, with the balance portraying their inherent fragility. The disarmingly simple storyline revolved around a soft-spoken theatre actor (played by the director’s son Louis Garrel), who leaves his wife (Rebecca Convenant) to move in with on-off actress (Anna Mouglalis) struggling with existential crisis, while also bonding with his kid daughter (Olga Milshtein) and lost sister (played by his real-life sister Esther Garrel). Marvelous turns by all – Mouglalis and little Olga were especially astounding – along with the stone-washed B/W photography, haunting guitar-based score and freewheeling vignettes added to the warmth, melancholy and heartbreak of this quietly devastating mosaic that, on hindsight, was more a bittersweet ballad than a movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Director: Philippe Garrel

Genre: Drama/Romantic Drama/Urban Drama

 Language: French

Country: France