«Everybody knows that the dice are loaded4 reading minutes

Cinema Wednesdays - Thierry Fivaz

Opening film for the 71st Cannes Film Festival, Todos Lo Saben (or Everybody Knows), by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, depicts a touching, poignant and realistic Spain.

For his eighth feature-length film, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi sets foot in Spain, a country whose language is foreign to him. It's not the first time Farhadi has tackled such an exercise, however: he has already shot The Past (2013) in France and in French. But despite the difficulties that such a situation can cause, this in no way detracts from the quality of Everybody Knows. On the contrary, it's even likely that the peculiarity of the situation remains one of the ingredients enabling this feature-length film to acquire a universal dimension. For while the film's roots are deeply Spanish - the cast is entirely Iberian, and the actors perform in their own language - the relationships between the characters, the love that unites them, the emotions and concerns embody with authenticity and realism the bonds and feelings we all know. In short, with Everybody Knows, the particular becomes general.

With this story, the talented director - who at only forty-six has two Oscars for Best Foreign Film (with A Separation, 2011 and The Customer, 2016), a Golden Globe and a César (also for A Separation) - explores the rich motif of the family, and in particular its unspoken secrets, resentments, sorrows and joys.

Funeral weddings

Due to her sister's marriage, Laura (Penélope Cruz) returns to her native village accompanied by her two children - her daughter Irene (Carla Campra), aged around 15, and her son, aged around 5. Living in Argentina with her husband Alejandro (Ricardo Darín), who has stayed behind, Laura is delighted to return to Spain and see her family again. The reunion is warm and beautiful. The large, sumptuous family home - the village's umbilicus, now a hotel, no doubt for lack of money - is embellished, bustling with life, the rooms filled, the whole family quivering with excitement and rejoicing at being together again. The happy event allows Laura to see Paco (Javier Bardem), a former childhood sweetheart and family friend, who is also invited to the festivities with his wife Bea (Bárbara Lennie). Here, too, the reunion with the former lover-turned-winegrower is a beautiful one, as love seems to have substituted for sincere friendship over time.

So it's in a postcard setting, in a good-natured atmosphere devoid of any heaviness, that the party begins. After a religious ceremony, which we can guess is more about respecting customs than affirming convictions, guests and family gather in the family home and, as only Spaniards know how, sing, dance and have fun in honor of the newlyweds.

But as the party goes on late into the night, something unexpected happens: Laura's daughter Irene - who had gone to bed, no doubt exhausted by jet lag - is no longer in her room. Despite a search, the young girl is nowhere to be found. Newspaper clippings left in Laura's room lead us to fear the worst: Irene has been kidnapped.

Laura or the rightness of feelings

The realism that emanates from the film - in terms of the characters' emotions and reactions - is poignant and rings particularly true. And despite what some critics (such as Télérama) Penélope Cruz delivers a magnificent performance. In the difficult role of Mater dolorosa, The actress is particularly convincing and, above all, moving. Through her, we are able to measure the extent of every mother's visceral and permanent fear: that of losing her child. Despite the dramatic situation, Farhadi doesn't overwhelm his character; on the contrary, he gives her real depth and fills her with dignity. In this way, in the manner of Almodóvar, the director sheds light on this woman - the woman - from her most beautiful side, the one that beneath its apparent fragility is that of a being of will, character, strength, courage and love. In this light, Laura's despair becomes overwhelming, unbearable, yet terribly beautiful, as it manifests the immensity of maternal love.

As for Javier Bardem, playing for the ninth time with his wife, he infuses the character of Paco, like a pointillist painter, with delicate touches of honesty, sincerity and even, at times, naiveté, without ever lapsing into caricature. Bardem's genius lies in his ability to emphasize the vulnerability of all men who have ever loved, with all modesty and no tears; a state enhanced by the actor's imposing build, which contrasts with his fragility. Like the two actors, the entire cast is remarkably solid. Ricardo Darín turns in a remarkable performance as a dejected father, while Eduard Fernández, playing Laura's brother-in-law, is touching in his simplicity.

In Everybody knows, In short, Farhadi paints a tragic, complex but horrifyingly real family fresco. While the first third of the film, with its natural, unvarnished mise-en-scène - apart from the excellent cinematography by José Luis Alcaine, a regular collaborator of Almodóvar's - resembles a succession of happy family scenes, it suddenly shifts into a breathless thriller. It's a surprising mix of genres, but one that's skilfully balanced, the shift being marked scenically by a torrential downpour. Once the shift has been made, passions and old grudges surface; tongues are loosened, old secrets buried under an imbroglio of unspoken words come to the surface. The once close-knit family is in crisis, falling apart. How can Irene be found? Who kidnapped her? Where is she now? Her hours are numbered, and everyone knows it.

Write to the author: thierry.fivaz@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Frenetic Films