The deeply felt specific becomes staggeringly universal in Filippo Meneghetti’s stunning directorial debut, “Two of Us.” This finely wrought tale of love, loss, aging and the secrets we keep contains the bittersweet lessons of life itself. It's rendered beautifully, and tragically, on screen, by director/co-writer Meneghetti, who collaborated on the script with Florence Vignon and Malysone Bovorasmy. It’s a unique and utterly worthy choice as France’s official selection for the Academy Awards Best International Film this year.
The first act belongs to Martine Chevallier, who, as Madeleine, is lovely, if somewhat fragile and vulnerable. A widowed mother and grandmother, she’s in a loving long-term relationship with Nina (Barbara Sukowa), who ostensibly lives in the apartment directly facing hers. Yet these women are the only two with any knowledge of the true nature of their relationship. They’re on the precipice of coming out, making plans to sell their apartments and move to Rome, where they met. But Madeleine is hesitant to rock the boat with her children, single mom Anne (Léa Drucker) and son Frédéric (Jérôme Varanfrain), who are incredibly attached to the idea of their parents’ love story and legacy.
The revelation of Madeleine’s indecision and deceit is a betrayal to Nina, a conflict that’s compounded when Madeleine suffers a debilitating stroke, and Nina is relegated to the role of nosy neighbor, almost completely shut out of Madeleine’s care.
The legendary German actress Sukowa, a protégé of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, is fantastic as the panicked, grieving Nina, who nevertheless remains the strong, earthy, determined half of the couple. She embodies the exquisitely singular agony Nina experiences: the loss of a partner who never fully disappeared, remaining frustratingly out of reach just beyond their apartment doors, speechless and dependent on full-time caregivers. Upon this inauspicious landing, a heart-wrenching melodrama plays out.
The lush, textured production design of Madeleine’s apartment, stuffed with her secrets, contrasts with Nina’s spare and sparsely furnished dwelling, which she has barely inhabited. Meneghetti often shoots the couple together through doorways, partially obscured by layers of walls and furniture, their love existing in the shadows, reflected in mirrors. This visual representation of their relationship underscores how it’s existed, unspoken, for so long, and takes on a new complexity when the stroke robs Madeleine of her speech. Their communication regresses from easy quotidian rhythms and tender, erotic caresses to the flickering of a glance, a hand grasped. These profound visual expressions of their connection are coupled with an evocative sound design, integral to the tone, which takes on a darker tenor as clocks tick and spoons clink in an oppressive environmental pressure cooker. Silence is punctuated by the piercing caws of crows; eavesdropping becomes Nina’s only source of information about her partner.
This sophisticated management of tone makes “Two of Us” rich and nuanced, complex and utterly heartbreaking. Within the folds of the film, simultaneously a love story, thriller and tragedy, nearly anyone can find an anchor, or a wound. It illustrates with devastating clarity what a mess secrets can make, and how one errant, unpredictable thread can unravel any carefully calibrated lie. Yet love finds a way, even if only for a moment, and defiantly, a glimmer of hope remains.
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‘TWO OF US’
3.5 stars
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Martine Chevallier, Léa Drucker, Jérôme Varanfrain, Muriel Bénazéraf, Augustin Reynes.
Directed by Filippo Meneghetti.
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.
No MPAA rating.
In French with English subtitles.
Opening in theaters and on demand Friday
