Director: Claire Denis
Writers: Christine Angot and Claire Denis
Stars: Vincent Lindon, Juliette Binoche, Grégoire Colin, Bulle Ogier, and Mati Diop
Synopsis: A love triangle story about a woman caught between two men, her long-time partner, and his best friend, her former lover.
After the success of 2018’s English-language High Life, Claire Denis returns to French cinema with Both Sides of the Blade. Adapted from Christine Angot’s Un tournant de la vie, the film sees frequent Denis collaborator Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon as Sara and Jean, a married couple madly in love with one another. Jean is an ex-con looking to rebuild his life by working at a sports agency with his friend François (Grégoire Colin). However, Sara used to love François before meeting Jean, which challenges the relationship he has with Sara, while she starts to see François in secret.
Denis isn’t exploring new territory here. And even if she’s adapting a book and co-writing the screenplay with the author, it’s a story we’ve all seen before in a thousand movies. A woman (or man) rekindles an old flame and threatens their marriage. What makes Both Sides of the Blade stand out amongst a sea of love triangle films is the central performances from Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche. Lindon blew our socks off last year by starring in Julia Ducournau’s Titane in a role that was surprisingly more emotionally restrained than the film’s electric aesthetic and pace. In Both Sides of the Blade, Lindon not only channels the same amount of restraint he held in Titane, especially in how he interacts with his son, Marcus (Issa Perica), with whom he shares a distant relationship but also manages to amp up the intensity when he believes his wife is lying to him.
The confrontation scenes are by far the most riveting sequences in the entire movie because they’re the perfect showcase for Lindon and Binoche’s acting skills. Lindon channels massive amounts of pain as Jean, because he genuinely loves Sara, while Binoche’s disbelief turns into anger when she believes her side of the story isn’t getting heard from her husband. Moments of intimate and tender love during the film’s first act turn into a fiery bout of passion in the movie’s final scenes as both of them try to salvage their love, and prove to themselves that they’re made for each other, even if they don’t want to listen to what they have to say. Without Lindon and Binoche in front of the camera at all times, the movie wouldn’t have been as enthralling as it is, especially without Lindon as Jean. Had someone else played the role, the movie certainly wouldn’t have had the same emotional impact as it did.
The way Lindon is able to play with despair, through his facial expressions, is astounding and further proves why he’s one of French cinema’s most powerful forces. As soon as he is on screen, drinking coffee and looking from his balcony, we already know that Denis is trying to establish that his character will be full of despair, whether it’s trying to reconnect with his son, or keeping his marriage alive while Sara is off having sex with François. Lindon packs so much anguish and emotional baggage in the role that it’s hard not to feel bad for him. After everything he’s lived through in his life, Jean deserves to be happy and thrive, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.
These elements kept me engaged during Both Sides of the Blade, even if most of the film is tonally inconsistent. For starters, Sara’s relationship with François is barely developed, with Colin giving an incredibly ridiculous performance as Sara’s other lover. There’s some passion in the way they look at each other when they meet again for the first time, sure, but it wasn’t enough for me to have been sold on their relationship as a whole. But the movie spends its first fifty-six minutes with Lindon and Binoche, as they go about their day, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I obviously do not mind a movie that takes its time to establish the core relationship before delving deep into the drama, but most of the plot threads Denis and Angot introduce during its first two acts lead nowhere. It also doesn’t help that most of the dialogue written during the film’s first half feels terribly corny and robotic, particularly the material given to Perica (Bulle Ogier), playing Jean’s mother, and Mati Diop as a pharmacist. Diop and Ogier are pitifully wasted in their roles and add nothing of note to the overall movie when their screentime could’ve been compensated by a deeper exploration of Sara’s rekindling with François, who reunite as if no time has passed.
Because of this, Both Sides of the Blade isn’t as impactful as it should be. Still, the film is an impeccable showcase of how terrific Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche are as actors, and are able to chew up the screen and make the most of their time together in the most cathartic way possible. Without them, the movie would’ve likely been one of Claire Denis’ worst projects. However, their acting mastery keeps our eyes glued to the screen, never knowing where their journey as a couple will go next. It’s a shame that most of the movie feels unfocused, but once the drama starts to intensify, the film gradually improves and culminates in an impeccable finale.
