Il y a Longtemps que Je T'aime (I've Loved You So Long) poster & wallpaper

Catherine Hosmalin, Claire Johnston, Elsa Zylberstein

Juliette was 15 years in prison. Confronted with the unexpected goodness of her younger sister Léa, who makes Juliette a part of her family, very slowly breaks up the Juliette's ice and bitterness and...( read more  read more... ) she carefully opens up.

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85% liked it

4,262 ratings

Critics

90% liked it

115 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 55 min.

Directed by: Philippe Claudel

Release Date: October 24, 2008

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DVD Release Date: March 3, 2009

Stats: 1,419 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,419)

  • gor41
    June 20, 2009
    gor41
    Taught, believable study of a woman's struggle to reintegrate into society and her family after a tragedy which saw her jailed for 15 years. Thomas and Zylberstein work well together as estranged sisters. Slow but beautifully crafted.
  • susanriley
    June 5, 2009
    susanriley
    I saw this film after hearing the amazing reviews, and perhaps that led to higher expectations. I still enjoyed the film and Kristen Scott Thomas does an amazing job, however the big shocker ending seemed kind of predictable to me.
  • ceWEBrity
    March 29, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    Last week I watched this fantastic little film called Rachel Getting Married. Surely you've heard of it? Though its strengths are many and admirable, perhaps its greatest gift is the ability to be subtle without drawing attention to its quietude or deliberation. It is subtle, but...( read more) also forceful, and the movie benefits hugely from that.

    I've Loved You So Long does not. It would bill itself as subtle, but the aesthetic choices are sold out by the movie's constant need to draw attention to them. "There's piano on this soundtrack! And guitars sometimes too!" "Look at how sad Kristin Scott Thomas is! You can tell because she's not wearing any makeup." (As if the actress's face wasn't enough to communicate that? It's almost an insult.) "If we communicate our plot really slowly, then it'll achieve a slow-burn effect!" The latter here is perhaps the most maddening. Phillipe Claudel's unwillingness to play his cards may read like a painful story slowly unraveling, but what it really is is the need to spread out 45 minutes worth of plot through a two hour movie. I've Loved You So Long had the capacity to be subtle, but it is too untrusting of its audience's intelligence or its ability to read into subtext. It is just as obvious as any other melodrama, only with a thick scoop of false hush dolloped in. And that just makes the movie feel ponderous, languorous, even enervated.

    This is a shame, because I've Loved You So Long had two overwhelming advantages that become squandered in the laziness of its narrative. The first, obviously, is Kristin Scott Thomas's dynamic performance. She is facially expressive to a fault and in perfect control of what she's communicating to the audience; every move she makes, every subtle twitch, have a meaning behind them. She is a haunted beauty (needlessly highlighted by the overdone makeup) and even before the film begins you can tell she's got a few stories whirling around in her. It's a shame that Elsa Zylberstein's performance lags so far behind hers - which, to be fair, is no fault of her own since Lea is a terribly written character. Claudel seems unsure of what to do with her; especially hilarious is a scene where she has a complete breakdown at a Dostoyevsky debate and makes this odd assertion that none of us can really understand murder since we don't all have murderers in our family. Huh?

    The second advantage here is the fundamental value of the plot. A mother killing her son - that's all you have to say, and immediately it conjures intrigue. How? Why? Who could be so inhumane? I've Loved You So Long keeps you guessing for an excruciating 100 minutes before finally revealing itself, and the ending is nothing but a shitty copout. It deletes the challenges it poses to the audience, redeems Juliette and Elsa, and whitewashes the whole affair. Worst of all, it leaves you with this palpable "who cares?" sensation. The movie is trivialized, and that is a shame, since the gravity of its core theme should be anything but trivialized.

    This is a massive disappointment after all the positive buzz, and really amounts to nothing but a smoke-riddled, deceitful waste of time. You can lump it into the La Vie En Rose school of "fantastic performances trapped inside shitty movies" category, or you may well disagree; most seem to. Either way, I can't recommend this in good conscience. It seems ready-made to satisfy the art crowd's need for constant overbearing subtlety.
  • DrZeek
    March 25, 2009
    DrZeek
    Juliette and Lea: At the clear fountain / While I was strolling by / I found the water so nice / That I went in to bathe. So long I've been loving you / I will never forget you.

    A well acted drama, set in France, about a women coming back into the world and dealing with the choi...( read more)ces she made years prior.

    Kristin Scott Thomas stars as Juliette, a women who has just been released from a 15 year prison sentence. Juliette has given the chance to live with her sister Lea and her family, which includes her husband, two adopted daughters, and mute father.

    We slowly learn why Juliette was in prison. As we do, we follow Juliette's limited path in finding work and forming new relationships. Juliette very much likes to keep her emotions on the inside. None of the people close to her ever question why she has done what she did.

    There are only two key relationships that Juliette forms, not including her own sister. One is her parole officer, the other is a colleague of her sisters'. These aspects only further move Juliette along as she adjusts to her freedom.

    This movie is quite good. Kristin Scott Thomas has a lot to do with a role that doesn't have a whole lot of dialog to work with, but instead a lot of physical acting involving her facial expressions. The other performances certainly add to the film as well.

    The movie certainly takes a few moments to make sure an emphasize the important points and does have numerous depressing aspects, but the story is still very engaging.

    Juliette: Nothing mattered anymore. I wanted to go to prison. Either way, I was guilty. I'd given birth to him and condemned him to die. And I had nothing to say. Explain? Explain what? To whom? Explaining is looking for excuses. Death has no excuses. The worst prison is the death of one's child. You never get out of it.
  • binky013
    March 6, 2009
    binky013
    First the good news: Kristin Scott Thomas gives a superior performance. Sadly, that's about all I can say in a positive vein.

    Coming at this project from a writing point of view, I'd have to say that this is one of the most manipulative scripts I've seen in recent memory. P

    ...( read more)lease don't misunderstand me; I am absolutely moved by the idea of a story of a mother who kills her child as an act of love, of ultimate mercy. But there are ways to write this in an honest, a genuine spirit, and then there are the tools of melodrama run wild. The basic story is a powerful one, but it's written by folks who do not write true-to-life -- they write clever. If it weren't for Scott Thomas grounding the gimmicky writing, this could be the worst kind of soap opera.

    I'm no fan of a lot of the philosophy behind Western medicine but, about all I can say, with the cynical nature old age brings upon even some of the best of us, is that this an appropriate example of why physicians are not supposed to treat their own family members. They are too close, emotionally speaking, to act impartially.

    Kristin Scott Thomas fans should not miss this, however. She definitely rises above the material with a wonderful performance.
  • anunholyvoid
    October 31, 2009
    anunholyvoid
    Kristin Scott Thomas plays a quiet woman with a secret. Slowly but surely, Juliette, played by the magnificent Scott Thomas, brings down the walls that hide her true identity in this moving French movie about a woman trying to cope with being back in society after 15 years impris...( read more)onment for a crime she committed with the belief that she was doing the right thing. The repercussions of her behaviour many years before slowly unfold in this tragic tale as she begins to open up to her younger sister and the new friends she has made. Absorbing.
  • wdiaz77
    October 28, 2009
    wdiaz77
    muy buena peli, me hizo sacar las de cocodrilo...
  • cagney1971
    October 15, 2009
    cagney1971
    A tense, emotional film with a great performance from Kristen Scott Thomas. Her character is cold and shut off but I found myself warming to her as she comes back to life after her 15 years in prison.
  • CinemaPlanet
    October 12, 2009
    CinemaPlanet
    An engrossing drama that slowly peels back the layers of one woman's emotional trauma and redemption.
  • NoYouBoysNeverKnow
    October 4, 2009
    NoYouBoysNeverKnow
    seems interestinggg to meeee

View All Il y a Longtemps que Je T'aime (I've Loved You So Long) Reviews

Critic Reviews

November 21, 2008
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

Thomas gives it her all, uncorking every ounce of emotion she'd held in check, with Herculean restraint, over the better part of two hours. full review

November 20, 2008
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

I've Loved You So Long is about the repercussions of tragedy, the difficulty of being supportive, the need for patience in the face of despair. Without saying much, Scott Thomas carries the entire ent... full review

October 31, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Kristin Scott Thomas' performance in I've Loved You So Long is one of a small handful of highlights by which people will remember this year in movies. full review

October 30, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is one of Kristin Scott Thomas' most inspired performances. full review

October 27, 2008
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

The film is a tease, with a cheat of a final disclosure, but Philippe Claudel's direction is both probing and delicate, and Scott Thomas's face, even immobile, keeps you watching, searching for hints ... full review

October 24, 2008
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Writer/director Philippe Claudel knows just how to structure a character study of this sort, so that key elements and important secrets are revealed over time, piquing our interest. full review

October 24, 2008
Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com

With sparse emotion and very slowly evolving detail, writer/director Philippe Claudel's mood drama reveals long-held secrets and passions simmering under the radar. full review

October 24, 2008
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

In the drama I've Loved You So Long, Kristin Scott Thomas's furious honesty rules out easy, unearned redemption.

October 24, 2008
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Want a master class in film acting? Check out Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette, a doctor just out of prison in this spellbinder from writer-director Philippe Claudel. full review

September 26, 2008
Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

As a mood-piece the film sits on a pedestal, rather, waiting to be admired. full review

View more Il y a Longtemps que Je T'aime (I've Loved You So Long) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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