Emmanuelle Devos is a celebrated actress at the top of her game in A Silence (2023).
From the lingering shot of Devos’ taken from the rear seat as she drives, to the front-on close up as she awaits a courtroom verdict at the end, the actress is central to this movie.
“A silence” refers principally to her but more broadly to her well-heeled French family.
In sense, presented as a mystery, A Silence unfolds slowly and deliberately to reveal her household’s secrets.
The lingering opening shot follows Astrid (Devos) to a police station where she answers questions from a detective. This concerns an attack by her son against her husband.
Flashback of the time leading up to the incident reveals – in deftly peeled-back layers – why this happened.
Francois (Daniel Auteuil) is a lawyer seeking justice for a couple whose two children have been raped and murdered by a serial killer (this is based on a notorious case in Belgium). He is forthright about political and judicial interference with the media camped outside his family estate.
A hint something is not quite right is presented early when we see the detective who interviewed Astrid, also staked out there with colleagues.
Living with Francois and Astrid is Raphael (Matthieu Galoux), a troubled teenager, adopted by the two. Mother and son are close; father appears distracted and stressed by his high-profile case.
This however, is false. Beneath the surface, “a silence” has wreaked havoc on this household.
We also meet married daughter Caroline (Louise Chevillotte) who brings the first portent of disturbing history when she tells Astrid that something which occurred between Astrid’s brother Pierre and Francois some 30 years before is about to become public.
Francois, who (unseen by the viewer) watches acts of child pornography on his laptop, apparently raped the much-younger Pierre while Astrid was pregnant with Caroline. Everyone in the family knows this except Raphael.
A tense scene occurs when Francois accuses Astrid of using his laptop and confronts Raphael with a similar accusation. No one else is allowed to watch the horrid images he has to see as research for his case.
But this isn’t true. Francois is guilty of raping Pierre, guilty of accessing child pornography and is obviously a very sick individual, placating his wife by saying he has previously sought help and has everything under control.
When Raphael is confronted with the truth, control is gone. The police raid the estate, all three are taken away and Raphael admits under examination that he has copied links from his father’s laptop since he was about eight years old.
The revelation of his father’s guilt hits hard. “He will just get away with it. He always does” he tells Astrid.
The film ends with Raphael’s court case for attempting to kill Francois.
The father, who has earned a 10-year suspended sentence for his crimes, tries unsuccessfully to kiss his son in the courtroom. The sense of I’ve done nothing wrong is palpable.
As the verdict is about to be read, the camera closes in on Astrid’s face. We do not hear the outcome and her expression gives away little. It is up to the viewer to decide.
Director Joachim Lafosse has manufactured a serious film about a very serious and odious subject. To do so within the confines of troubled personalities in a family is a deft display, reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage (1974) and Woody Allen’s Interiors (1978), each dark films without the harrowing reality of child pornography.
3.75
I WRIGHT 