André Dussollier

Gay filmmaker André Téchiné opens his intriguing new drama, Unforgivable, (August 10), by rapidly introducing the four main characters. Francis (André Dussollier) is a celebrated crime writer looking for a rental property in Venice, Italy. He meets Judith (Carole Bouquet), a real estate agent, who suggests a place on the nearby island of Sant’Erasmo. Francis immediately suggests she move in with him. Judith, a bisexual, considers his proposition in a conversation with her ex, Anna Maria (Adirana Asti), a private detective. Anna Maria later meets her troubled son Jérémie (Mauro Conte), who is soon to be released from prison.

The romantic and emotional attachments these characters have with one another come to light over the course of this subtle, engaging—and for some, inscrutable—film. Téchiné presents a series of episodes that belie issues of love, trust, and absence. While the director deftly traces the ebbs and flows of sexual and parental love that mirror the waves that surround Venice, the film requires considerable attention to mine all the significance being presented. Those viewers not up for the challenge will likely be bored.

Unforgivable features two plotlines, both involving investigations. One concerns Francis’ daughter Alice’s (Melanie Thierry) disappearance.

He hires Anna Marie to search for her, and she does this—in France. This story, however, is quickly jettisoned for another narrative. When Francis suspects his (now) wife Judith of cheating on him, he hires Jérémie to follow her. A low-key, but compelling, chase through the streets and waterways of Venice ends with Judith confronting Jérémie. They soon take their relationship to a sexual level, which creates ripples in her marriage.

Téchiné establishes a palpable sense of longing and despair as both members of the married couple experience physical and emotional isolation. The film illustrates this with several marvelous scenes of Francis spying on his wife using binoculars, and of Judith swimming. The film teases out the dramatic tension as the characters may—or may not—be provoking others by their actions. Does Francis’ spying on Judith prompt her to sleep with Jérémie? Are Francis’ actions a ploy to cure his writer’s block? And what are the ramifications of Judith’s affair with her ex-lover’s son? The film reveals most of these answers in due time, and it remains spellbinding throughout.

Viewers will become absorbed watching these complex characters and their daily routines. Scenes of Judith working at her agency, or Jérémie playing with his dog, reveal details about how they act alone or with others that magnify or refract the way they interact with Francis and/or Anna Marie.

Unforgivable unpeels like an onion, revealing multiple layers over the film’s extended time frame. The film measures the distance between parents and children, and between lovers over the course of a year plus. Francis’ separation from both Alice and Judith reflects how Anna Marie and Jérémie are equally, but dissimilarly, distanced physically and emotionally.

However, Téchiné is really delving into a deeper theme that becomes apparent after the film’s most interesting sequence. One night, Jérémie is followed by—or perhaps lures—a gay man through the canals of Venice. When the stranger makes a pass at him, Jérémie throws him over the bridge into the water. A later scene shows the stranger chasing Jérémie and exacting a violent revenge on the “gay basher.” Francis witnesses the horrible act, and advises Jérémie, “Violence against other people, setting out to wound or maim them, is unforgivable.”

Herein lies what Unforgivable is really all about: the violence—be it physical or emotional—that people commit towards others. Alice’s disappearance upsets her father; Francis has Judith followed because he is emotionally vulnerable; Judith’s behavior irritates her lovers; Anna Maria is pained by the actions of both her ex-lover and her son; and Jérémie has abusive tendencies. These ideas are expanded upon, repeatedly, throughout the film as when Judith is hit on by Alice’s lover, or a character is found after a suicide attempt. Téchiné shrewdly shows without telling; he lets viewers grasp the meanings behind—and consequences of—each character’s action. Francis, Judith, and Jérémie are all seductive and sinister.

Unforgivable benefits from a quartet of strong performances. Bouquet is particularly alluring in the pivotal role of Judith. A scene where she wears a blonde wig and fights with Francis is terrific; she shows here how her identity is mutable and she cannot—and will not—be controlled by others. As Francis, Dussollier is credible as both a wise voice of reason, and an insecure father/lover. In support, Mauro Conte makes an indelible impression as the beguiling Jérémie. He engenders sympathy even when he is most despicable.

Téchiné may deliberately obfuscate in Unforgivable, but the connections he creates sneak up on viewers. They generate immense insight about human behavior.

© 2012 Gary M. Kramer