A critical assessment of the merits of a subject, such as art, film, music, television, food and literature. Reviews are based on the writer鈥檚 informed/expert opinion.
Starring Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko, Sandrine Dumas, Nicolas Duvauchelle and Alex Descas. Directed by Claire Denis. Opens Friday at TIFF Bell Lightbox. 96 minutes. 18A
For just a flash in Let the Sunshine In there鈥檚 a glimpse of a painting at an art show of a Little Red Riding Hood type being attacked by a wolf 鈥 or is it the other way around?
Claire Denis (Beau Travail) wants us to guess, in this elegantly observed romance about a divorced woman searching for 鈥渙ne real love鈥 in a city of lupine losers.
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The woman is Isabelle, a painter played by the always rapturous Juliette Binoche. The city is Paris, which Denis adores, even yielding to a romantic Eiffel Tower shot.
Yet this is no mere romcom, despite the parade of genre types Isabelle meets in her recherche d鈥檃mour. They include an arrogant banker (Xavier Beauvois), a perplexing fellow artist (Alex Descas), a self-absorbed actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle) and even her torch-carrying ex-husband (Laurent Gr茅vill), father of her 10-year-old daughter.
Then there鈥檚 the blue-collar swain Sylvain (Paul Blain), met on a rural idyll as Etta James鈥 鈥淎t Last鈥 interrupts the dreamy jazz soundtrack. Isabelle鈥檚 friends think he鈥檚 all wrong for her. The truth about love, as someone tells her, is finding the 鈥渂eautiful sun鈥 within. I can鈥檛 reveal who imparts this wisdom; wondering is part of the joy of this film.
Peter Howell is a Toronto-based movie critic and a freelance
contributor to the Star. Follow him on Twitter: .
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