Review of I've Loved You So Long (2008) by Ws W — 01 May 2010

Like a morning walk in the fog, pleasant, but won't stay with you.

This is a story about withholding. Where was Juliette for 15 years? What did she do? Why did she do it? The information is leaked in controlled bursts.

Meanwhile Juliette goes through life with an expression both forlorn and impassive. her icy protective shell seems impenetrable to her sister, who continues to seek entrance to that person she once knew.

SPOILER ALERT: I had a problem with the story. Juliette has told no one why she killed her son. Despite being a convicted child killer, her sister allows her to baby sit her own kids and even her husband comes around to accept this. sorry. That's just irresponsible. Do I lie? Also it doesn't seem possible that no one else discovered her child had a terminal painful disease and that's why she killed him. It seems absurd in fact. She said her husband testified at her trial against her. He didn't know? This is that hole in the plot one hears whispering behind the curtain.

Most viewers will solve the mild mystery before the veil is lifted and for a movie structured on revelation it lacks force. Often entrancingly serene, sometimes poignant, the tale concerns itself with crime, punishment, and danger of judgement without all the details, but it is more a character study. Like a wistful musing it distracted but never entrapped me.