Plots(1)
Isabelle Huppert, one of the best actors working today, crafts a uniquely soft and vulnerable character in Élise Girard’s low-key charmer. The eponymous Sidonie is a writer, predominantly known for an early novel that charted her grief after the deaths of family members in a car crash. Now grieving another loss, she agrees to a brief tour in Japan to celebrate a new translation of this book, accompanied by soft-spoken interpreter Kenzo (Tsuyoshi Ihara). What unfolds is a moving and gentle portrait of a woman slowly emerging from her protective carapace through probing conversations with Kenzo, a side trip to the famous art island of Naoshima, and the ghostly return of her deceased husband. Eschewing broad strokes of closure, Girard instead grabs at the heart with a beautifully nuanced look at a woman who finds a new lease on life. (San Francisco International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
Isabelle Huppert
France
Best movies:
No Time for Breakfast (1976)
The Common Man (1975)
The Lacemaker (1977)
August Diehl
West Germany
Best movies:
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Frau Ella (2013)
Dr. Alemán (2008)
Tsuyoshi Ihara
Japan
Best movies:
Half a Confession (2004)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Grave Of The Fireflies (2005) (TV movie)