Film Summary

Writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve is recognized as one of the brightest talents in contemporary French film for the way she has renewed the tradition of the intimate cinema of ideas and emotions epitomized by auteurs such as Eric Rohmer. While her later films such as Things to Come were widely praised in the United States, her first feature All is Forgiven is only receiving its US release now, thirteen years after its rapturous reception at the Cannes Film Festival. Hansen-Løve was only 26 when she made the film, but it is a surprisingly mature work in which one recognizes her themes—a young woman’s development, precarious family dynamics, the passage of time—and the texture of her images, shaped by a sensitivity to natural light and a keen sense of the frame. The film begins in Vienna in 1995, with Victor and Annette, a Franco-Austrian couple raising their little girl Pamela. When the family returns to Paris, Victor plunges into drug addiction and Annette vows never to see him again. Eleven years later, Victor resurfaces to get to know Pamela, now a teenager who has always wondered why he disappeared. This achingly delicate tale of love, despair, and forgiveness is carried by beautifully subtle performances.

Not Rated. Contains nudity and adult themes

Regina Koehler received her Ph.D. in German linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Her main area of interest is historical sociolinguistics. She has been at Grand Valley since 2000, teaching courses in German language, linguistics, and culture.