The third time we've seen Marguerite Duras' childhood as a movie and they are all more interesting than her own films - which is not difficult. This is not a great film, though it is remarkable on period. I still prefer René Clement's deeply flawed version and I did enjoy the eroticised L'Amant.
Curiously this is the first one not by a French director and it's a French movie. Huppert is always watchable and, with her character shifted to centre stage, there is an interesting change of emphasis. The final shot of the actual rice paddy is resonant. Jo Van Fleet's version seems to come from another planet.
The picture of Colonial Cambodia here is more convincing, though the things that should be central are sketchy - the ex-school teacher mother's back story, her relationship to the locals, who she is supposed to be protecting.
Curiously this is the first one not by a French director and it's a French movie. Huppert is always watchable and, with her character shifted to centre stage, there is an interesting change of emphasis. The final shot of the actual rice paddy is resonant. Jo Van Fleet's version seems to come from another planet.
The picture of Colonial Cambodia here is more convincing, though the things that should be central are sketchy - the ex-school teacher mother's back story, her relationship to the locals, who she is supposed to be protecting.