Review: After Love (L'économie du couple)
An unflinching, psychologically acute dissection of a relationship post-rupture, After Love (L'economie du couple) stars Bérénice Bejo and director-turned-actor Cédric Kahn as Marie and Boris, partners for 15 years and parents to two young girls.
The seemingly innocuous opening moments of Marie and the girls arriving home soon reveal that all is decidedly not well. Boris' appearance instantly sets Marie on edge - she reminds Boris that he's not meant to be in the house before the evening, and her irritation only increases as the girls herd around him, asking him to give them their baths and read them their bedtime stories. It would seem that Boris has made an unexpected visit, but the situation is far more complicated as the two, though no longer together, are still living under the same roof.
This would make for an untenable situation under any circumstances, but the reasons for Boris refusing to leave are borne out in the film's French title, which literally translates into The Economy of a Couple. Money may be a contributing factor to people getting married, but it is also a significant reason for eroding a union. It's clear that Marie is the family's breadwinner and that Boris, being an unsteadily employed builder currently in debt to some shady characters, obviously resents her for it. He needles her about being in a higher social class and, when she fires back that she is the one paying all their bills including the mortgage, reminds her that her mother (Marthe Keller) gave her a cash gift that allowed them to buy their house. The same house that he has poured his blood, sweat and tears into renovating - his work, he argues, has upped the market value and so, if she wants him out, then she'll have to give him his fair share.
Though director Joachim Lafosse and co-screenwriters Mazarine Pingeot and Fanny Burdino's sympathies lie with Marie, both Marie and Boris are drawn with complexity. One can well understand that Boris' refusal stems from his wounded pride and that Marie's often severe stubbornness derives from maintaining her resolve. Both Bejo and Kahn do extraordinarily subtle work as the embattled lovers, both running on hatred more than love, trying to let go whilst still hanging on. Their performances are enhanced by Lafosse's understated yet probing direction.
Its highlight occurs late in the film when their girls lure them into a spontaneous dance. As the couple, particularly Bejo's Marie, run the gamut from sadness to happiness to resignation and back again, one witnesses the love that once united the couple but also how that same love is no longer enough to keep them together.
After Love (L'economie du couple)
Directed by: Joachim Lafosse
Written by: Mazarine Pingeot, Fanny Burdino, Joachim Lafosse
Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Cédric Kahn, Marthe Keller, Jade Soentjens, Margaux Soentjens
