Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas

I was given this movie and did not know anything about it. I have been very touched by the story. The actors are very good in their roles and don't overact. The film was quite hard sometimes however it really shows how strong the family links between brothers and sisters can be. The relationship between Lili and Grenouille is also full of reality. It is hard sometimes to understand how the father react to the cruel words read by his daughter on the cards she received but it is his way to protect her and it is a very noble act. Melanie Laurent is a little rising star for the french cinema. I really advise you to see this movie as it is a beautiful one.

Elise is a young woman 19 years old who return home after having spent a school year in Spain. She meets again her parents and is surprised not to see her twin brother, Loïc. Her parents explain to her that her brother has left home after a violent quarrel with their father. But, she is astonished not to have received phone calls from him. She suspects that something arrived to her brother, but she has no means to get news from him. Then she decides to stop to eat. Her parents are obliged to send her to an hospital and it's only when she receives post cards from her brother that she stop her hunger strike. But things are not simple and she shall discover later truth about his brother disappearing. The movie is a very dramatic painting both on conflict between parents and child, but also on love that ties twin brother and sister. Acting is very good, specially for Mélanie Laurent and Kad Merad and I consider this movie as a great one.

Picked up for €1 at a car boot sale in Normandy as it had English subtitles mainly because it looked a promising subject. We certainly bought into this well acted story for 1hr30 although the film was about half way through before the searching began. However, the film then lost all credibility with a totally unrealistic explanation as to Loïc's disappearance. It is interesting to note the lavish praise other reviewers have heaped on the film given this glaring weakness in the screen play. It would have been better to have left the viewer uncertain as to Loïcs ultimate disposal. Hence only 4 stars. Have however sought out a further two films by the director.

Don't Worry, I'm Fine is a relatively simple film, but it soars thanks entirely to Melanie Laurent's revelatory performance. The film is about this young woman's struggle to go from being entirely dependent on others to learning how to rely on herself and be her own woman, and along the way Laurent goes through the darkest stages of depression and finds happiness. She keeps us with her the entire time, our heart hurting when her's does and our spirits lifting right with her. The kind of emotion that she digs into and pulls out is rare to see in film these days, but she is at the peak of the acting world. The way she emotes her struggle is wrenching and very empathetic. As a whole the film doesn't have a lot going for it, it sticks pretty close to it's one theme and goes with it, but at the end of the day it's a character piece that finds it's strength in Laurent's extraordinary work here.

This project almost didn't get off the ground artistically because it is loaded with so many inconsistencies and improbabilities. When the parents of 19-year-old Lili walk around like zombies, evade all attempts by the girl to learn her brother's whereabouts and generally bring the story to a halt, it's up to Melanie Laurent to inject as much life as she can into the plot. That she is so successful is a tribute to her great talent and charisma as a performer. The hospital scenes must have been especially difficult for her, but they work very well. I must say she looks very convincing as an anorexic. Aissa Maiga as Lili's friend and Julien Boisselier as her boyfriend also provide strong support (but Boisselier seems a bit too old for the part).

Philippe Lioret on the basis of the three films of his I have seen, seems to be a capable but hardly inspired director. He relies a lot on the actors to drive his pictures.