This is a mystery crime drama in the French language about a psychiatrist who investigates her ex-patient’s sudden death. The film is subtitled.
A PRIVATE LIFE (Vie Privée). Starring: Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteil, Virginie Eifira, and Vincent Lacoste. Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski. Rated M (Suicide references, violence, coarse language, nudity, and sex scenes).
Review by Peter W Sheehan, Jesuit Media AustraliaDr. Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) is a Jewish-American psychiatrist working in Paris, and the family of one of her ex-patients is suing her for unsuccessful therapy of her patient. As a renowned psychiatrist, she fears the consequences of what happened to one of her patients. Her ex-patient (Virginie Efira) is unexpectedly found dead, and the claim is made that she has suicided. Lillian, as her therapist, falls under suspicion. Did an unresolved mental illness claim another victim? Was the patient killed with intent? And who was ethically responsible for what actually occurred?
The acting of Jodie Foster in the film is starkly memorable and distinctive. Foster compellingly acts a very complex role dealing with the ethics of psychotherapy. Lillian decides to investigate the death herself, and the patient’s death is explored with Hitchcockian suspense under Directorial control. Lilian herself believes she needs to find out exactly what happened because she isn’t sure. The film itself is a black film with a decidedly French twist, and more than one Woody Allen touch to supply comic bite. The film finally morphs into an analysis of a very lonely woman coming to grips with a professional crisis that she is experiencing.
Rebecca Zlotowski, as Director, has Lillian investigating the death of her patient with the aid of her ex-husband, Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil). This keeps plot twists alive, and they include imagined orchestra scenes that show an orchestra conductor whose baton turns into a revolver that fires a bullet into a woman that Lilian deeply loves – highlighting the problem of unresolved “ transference” between therapist and patient who are in love with one another.
The film is perhaps most adequately described as a highly specialised clinical drama. It uses professional acumen, human suspicion, guess-work, imagination, and hypnosis, to unravel where truth best lies, and then leaves it to the viewer to make the final judgment.
Reviewed by Peter Sheehan, an Associate of Jesuit Media