In “L’Avenir (Things to Come)," the French film premiering in competition at the 2016 Berlinale film festival, writer-director Mia Hansen-Love presents a real-life heroine who becomes stronger and more beautiful as life unravels around her.Set in quotidian, modern day Paris, we follow the story of Nathalie (Isabelle Huppert), a 60-something philosophy teacher who feeds her intellect by deconstructing the work of great thinkers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Blaise Pascal, visiting Chateaubriand’s grave for inspiration. Her work is well respected, which gives her strength. But no ideas are enough to prepare her for the tumult to come. Nathalie is dealt one bad card after another. Her husband of 25 years, Heinz (Andre Marcon) decides to leave her for a younger woman. Her invalid mother Yvette (Edith Scob) dies unexpectedly. Her academic publisher discontinues her philosophy books. On top of it all, she is left to face the onset of old age alone. Played with great charm and conviction by French actress Isabelle Huppert, we watch Nathalie adapt to her new circumstances honestly. There are tears, and a fleeting escape to the countryside with a former student and his group of pot-smoking anarchists, but Nathalie never descends into despair. She picks herself up, surveys the damage, and moves on to discover a freedom she’d never known. Ultimately, her greatest peace comes simply from being a grandmother, as we discover in the final, anti-climactic scene of the film. (In Hansen-Love’s matter-of-fact films, we’re encouraged to take things at face value.)“This film is a message of hope,” said Isabelle Huppert, during a post-screening conference. Reflecting on her character’s transformation, she added: “There is a force in her, not at all defined by the separation [with her husband.] She nourishes herself intellectually. Her answers come from within.” Listening to the actress speak, it is difficult to discern her from her character, a mark of her effortless acting. On the whole, this is a touching, relatable film presenting the absurdity of life’s difficulties with wit and humor. In one of the most poignant moments, Nathalie is alone, crying on a bus when she unexpectedly spots her husband and his new lover canoodling out the window. She bursts out laughing because, well, it just couldn’t get worse, could it? And we laugh with her. On the other hand, the dramatic narrative of the first half of the film becomes lukewarm and redundant in the second half, given that all main events have already occurred about an hour in. It isn’t until the end of the film, that we ‘get’ what it all means. And even then, the closing scene is very quiet. No catharsis here. During the conference, Hansen-Love told reporters that the film was inspired by her parents, both of whom are philosophy professors. Her fifth feature film, “L’Avenir” doesn’t stray from Hansen-Love’s usual family drama genre. Though she says the film is based on memories of her adolescence, it is striking to see a 35-year old screenwriter deal with the subject of aging in such a frank, personal and sometimes profound way. Nothing about it feels credulous. “L’Avenir” isn’t a romantic portrait of Parisian life, or a lecture on gender equality. “This film is a look at a certain existence, about a woman who finds absolute freedom being a grandmother,” said Hansen-Love of her character Nathalie.It is also about a woman becoming the heroine of her own life.
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