Sur Mes Lèvres - Jacques Audiard (2001)

I'm not sure where to begin with this film. First, I watched it over in a couple of nights. That means it's not a great film.

I had seen it before and enjoyed the French thriller thing. I still did. Though I do think it's not really strong all the time.

It's implied in the story that people don't shower. Ever.

I liked the cinematography. The cold colours and dark ambiences appeal a lot to me. The camera work is very good at making the story look unclean: dodgy characters in a grime situation... That is done very well. Very delicate in parts too. 

I've seen De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté and I can't remember much about it, but I thought he played with delicate parts too. Still at the time. I thought I liked Read My Lips better. Now I think it's because of the actors. I think they are dodgy and weird but very strong in their acting, particularly Emmanuelle Devos.

The Sound work. I decided to rewatch it because I was looking for how a deaf character is presented and how does her world sound. Hm. I was a little disappointed.

You'd think a deaf character is a good opportunity to play with sounds.

Does her world sound different with or without a hearing aid? Well. Yes... sort of. She continuously keep turning it on and off and things getting quieter. I like a scene where there's a fight and she can't hear much until  she finds her hearing aid and then it is a fight in sound too.

There's a playing with delicate sounds and loud ones too. As if that was the way she sees the world. That I liked.

But she goes from hearing to not hearing, without anything in particular happening when she's deaf. No ringing in her ears, no nothing....

And the music. It's alright music. Delicate, again. But there's just too much of it, used indiscriminately. Personally, I would have left those music moments for when she's alone in her world, no hearing aid. It would have made it more about her, rather than being everywhere and taking the beauty out of it.

I thought the sound could have been bolder. Sure it's technically very good, but it could have been a lot better if they had pushed it only a little bit more. Shame.

The story develops okay... but the end is not very surprising. (Even if it's your first watch)

Sur mes lêvres