Blackbird

One will never stop saying how Roger Michell is an excellent director and to confine him only to the timeless and unavoidable Love at first sight in Notting Hill (Notting Hill) amounts to not recognizing his talent as a storyteller but especially as a director of actors. We still often get to see his equally excellent films such as Morning glory (2010), Un Week-end à Paris (A Weekend in Paris) (2013) and Cousin Rachel (2017). In each of these films he was able to give actors the perfect roles, but above all to show that he was as comfortable in a comedy as he was in a drama. The subject of his new film is surely one of the most difficult he has ever tackled in cinema; euthanasia.

The question that this film asks beyond telling us about the last days of a woman suffering from an incurable degenerative disease is whether her will can be validated by her loved ones to avoid seeing her body no longer obey her. By adapting Bille August's Silent Heart with the same screenwriter Christian Torpe seduces us with his will not to try to move the audience too much but to explain the reason of a woman whose illness is incurable to make a decision at the right time. While science in some cases cannot provide a solution, cure certain diseases, we may or may not validate this desire to die and not be able to continue to live without an artificial respirator.

The film takes place only in the country house near the sea of Lily (Susan Sarandon) and her husband Paul (Sam Neill). They welcome their children and grandchildren for a weekend to live near Lily's last moments. The atmosphere navigates between a willingness to share her last moments by laughing at the past but also by remembering her strong moments spent with her family. By avoiding any overly theatrical approach, Roger Michelle's direction manages to constantly find the best angle to highlight this intimate drama. Between scenes of meals, decorating a Christmas tree a month before, walking on the beach, the film celebrates his family moments that make us forget our personal problems and allow us to recharge our batteries. The film also celebrates life, forgiven faults and above all what is and must be a true, inseparable whole that knows how to put aside each person's faults to seek true harmony.

Where some films would become pathetic and forced dramas, Roger Michell constantly finds the right approach and above all lets his actors give the best of themselves. The universal side of the film will speak to everyone and we can only be emotionally affected and dread this moment when the most important people in your eyes will no longer be there, these moments when you will no longer find the creative inspiration that animates you and allows you to work without expecting anything in return only by an unspeakable will to leave something to honor our memory. How can we not take real pleasure in seeing this cast of excellent actors such as Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson and Lindsay Duncan.

In the context of a global pandemic, this film won't cheer you up, but it will make you understand the ephemeral side of life and especially the importance of being with your family to celebrate important moments together. Blackbird is easily an excellent film to discover in the cinema from September 23rd thanks to the courage of the French distributor Métropolitan filmexport, where the United States preferred to the current context and the still very large number of closed cinemas to offer this film on VOD.

Blackbird
Directed by Roger Michell
Produced by David Bernardi, Sherryl Clark, Rob Van Norden
Screenplay by Christian Torpe
Based on Silent Heart by Bille August
Starring Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Mia Wasikowska, Lindsay Duncan, Sam Neill, Rainn Wilson, Bex Taylor-Klaus
Music by Peter Gregson
Cinematography: Mike Eley
Edited by Kristina Hetherington
Production company: Magna Entertainment, Busted Shark Productions, SF Studios, Millennium Films
Distributed by Screen Media Films
Release date: September 6, 2019 (TIFF), September 18, 2020 (United States) (VOD), September 23 2020 (France)
Running time: 98 minutes

Seen on September 20

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