20 Jan One Fine Morning Review

ONE FINE MORNING

dir. Mia Hansen-Løve, starring Léa Seydoux, Melvil Poupaud, and Pascal Greggory

One Fine Morning, the latest romantic drama written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, follows Sandra, a French translator that lives a quiet life in a small apartment with her daughter in Paris. She makes regular trips to spend time with her father Georg, who suffers from a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that progressively worsens. While her and her family preparing to move Georg out of his apartment and into an assisted living facility, Sandra encounters Clément, an old friend. While not available to her in the way she wants, Clément and Sandra begin a passionate romance as Sandra attempts to balance this with her duties to her father. One Fine Morning examines the never-ending cycle of relationships as one ends and another one begins or begins anew.

Starring Léa Seydoux, One Fine Morning is her movie to command. Seen from her perspective and appearing in nearly every frame of the film, Seydoux proves yet again she’s capable of leading a film with complexly emotional material and themes. A woman who starts confident and in control of her life, Sandra’s world is upended by the reappearance of Clément. The strain of her father’s rapidly declining health, along with the weight of her and Clément’s infidelity burden Sandra, and Seydoux is magnificent at subtly showing the fraying at the edges of the seams of Sandra’s world. Seydoux’s performance is sublimely subtle for the vast majority of the film, and each decision made by both character and actor, while not always agreeable, is understandable to a point. Her chemistry especially with Pascal Greggory as her father is achingly sweet; the agony of watching the decline of a loved one is hidden behind Sandra’s quiet determination to continue marching through life. For his part, Greggory is a delight every time he’s on screen, playing the confused father with a warmth that makes it impossible for the audience to not immediately charm to him.

Melvil Poupaud as Clément, the man returned to Sandra’s life, also carries his own charm. A married man, Clément places Sandra in an unenviable situation as their whirlwind romance continues throughout the film. Handsome, smart, and shown to connect with not just Sandra but Sandra’s daughter, Clément would make for a fine companion were it not for the extramarital nature of it all. He’s a complicated character with complicated feelings and Paoupaud plays with these depths throughout the movie’s runtime. Able to play indecisive and tortured just as well as dashing and charismatic, Poupaud mines a number of layers that ultimately makes for a rich performance.

Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, One Fine Morning continues her track record of telling emotional, human stories that explore the nature of exchanges between people in various ways. Sometimes focusing mainly on love lost and found (2011’s Goodbye First Love) or the relationship between fathers and daughters (2007’s All is Forgiven), Hansen-Løve continues an examination of both themes in this film. With both stories of Sandra tending to her ailing father and rekindling a missed opportunity with Clément, Hansen-Løve as a writer balances the competing items for her attention in a way where one doesn’t overpower the other. As a director, Hansen-Løve continues to be one of the driving forces of French cinema, finding new ways to display the country in the most beautiful light while the characters that fill the frame connect, separate, and reconnect on emotional rollercoasters that remind the audience of the fragility of life and need for human connection.

Overall, One Fine Morning is one of the better dramas that kicks off a new year of movies. Léa Seydoux is excellent as a woman spinning multiple plates in life in a desperate attempt to keep everything afloat. The reintroduction of old flames is a topic many people are familiar with; Hansen-Løve’s approach to the situation makes for a compelling study in character dynamics that expertly conveys the indecisiveness and agony of the situation. With a final shot that will leaves audiences satisfied with the journey they’ve undertaken with these characters, the film is more than worthy of attention. One Fine Morning hits theaters January 27th.

Review by Darryl Mansel