One Fine Morning: Living in the Joie De Vivre

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Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes:

Sandra, a young mother who raises her daughter alone, pays regular visits to her sick father. While she and her family fight tooth and nail to get him the care he requires, Sandra reconnects with Clément, a friend she hasn’t seen in a while. Although he is in a relationship, the two begin a passionate affair.

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Review:

There is somethings about the French quotidian drama One Fine Morning an American audience would find uncomfortable and odd to the typical American existence. The casual acceptance of affairs and mistresses as part of life, the joie de vivre even in sadness, the constant emotional analysis of the other and the humane treatment of their seniors even in the most cash strapped of facilities.

Sandra (Lea Seydoux), a French single mother, is a bundle of energy. She moves between her aging father’s care facilities, her translating job, her child’s school, her friends, a perpetual motion machine with a joyful intensity of purpose, confident, and a clear unwavering gaze. She is exactly who she seems to be :a mother, daughter, friend, lover and worker who, in order to keep going, needs to maintain a steady course even against strong winds.

Sandra is an appealing, sympathetic character with a deep amalgam of the complex and ordinary. The director, Mia Hansen-Love reveals her in fragments. The story unfolds quietly. Events are depicted with delicacy and modesty, a sense of reverence and respect for the sublime between the interstitches of bourgeois existence.

Outside of her job, Sandra’s life revolves around family and friends, mostly visiting her ailing father (Pascal Gregory) who is going blind and losing his memory from Benson’s syndrome. That is until a married astrochemist, Clement (Melvil Poupaud) enters the picture.

The story is simple, tenderly observed by Love but never saccharine. Love’s touch is discreet and light and always remains true to the story which splits into one involving her anguished-loving relationship with her father- and her longtime friend now turned lover. Sandra is saying a slow goodbye to her father and his love, while she’s embracing a new love, life and direction with Clement.

Seydoux’s performance has a calm, understated quality that gives One Fine Day a natural and comfortable emotional flow. Sandra, mostly shown in medium and long shots, is always moving somewhere or towards something, always in her specific world. There are no scenes beyond her. She only interacts with the other pieces of her life and Love generously allows the audience to see and connect theses pieces that make up Sandra’s whole life.

One Fine Morning sneaks up on the viewer emotionally. The scenes with her father are poignant and feel honest. They resonate because Sandra is maintaining her composure, no matter what good or bad happens. She patiently joyfully helps him recover words and memories. She is so unflappable I suspected that parts of her have permanently shut down.

Love builds scenes incrementally using modulating dramatic and emotional intensities that always deepen and enhance the story and character. Her themes- memory, time’s ebb and flow-are constantly referred over and over again. It looks inconstant, because life seems that way, but is not. Everything is balanced, persuasive and moving. Yes, it’s familiar, but what elevates it is the texture and quality of the emotions being shown, the details, delicacy of her character, the honesty of her.

One Fine Morning gets a 3.5/5 or B+. It’s streaming on Amazon Prime.

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Credits:

Directed by

Mia Hansen-Løve

Written by

Mia Hansen-Løve

Produced by

• Philippe Martin
• David Thion

Starring

• Léa Seydoux
• Pascal Greggory
• Melvil Poupaud
• Nicole Garcia
  • Fejria Deliba
  • Camille Leban Martins
  • Sarah Le Picard
  • Pierre Meunier

Cinematography

Denis Lenoir

Edited by

Marion Monnier

Production

companies

• Les Films Pelléas
• Razor Film Produktion
  • Arte France Cinéma
  • Bayerischer Rundfunk
  • Mubi

Distributed by

• Les films du losange (France)
  • Weltkino Filmverleih (Germany)

Release dates

• 20 May 2022(Cannes)
• 5 October 2022(France)
• 8 December 2022(Germany)

Running time

112 minutes[1]

Countries

• France
• Germany

Language

French

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