Binoche Gives A Great Performance In ‘l’attesa’

In his feature debut, director Piero Messina understands that he is dealing with grand issues, with time and life and death, and he has the artistic confidence to present them without irony and without short cuts. If you want to see great acting — or more to the point, if you want to see an illustration of the human soul’s complexity — watch Juliette Binoche in this film. Through her, we see the possibility of feeling and thinking multiple thoughts and emotions at once, as well as one actress’ ability to convey that complexity almost entirely through her eyes. Binoche as Anna — a French woman who moved to Sicily when she got married — is burying her son in the days before Easter. Later that day or the next, when the mourners are still gathered at the house, a young woman shows up at her door. Jeanne waits for a man who will never show up, and we wait for Anna to break the bad news. Here we see old from the Italian point of view, that old can be suffocating, that ancient stone can dwarf the spirit. Lou de Laage has the poise, intelligence and precision to match Binoche. [...] that element is present, and intentional, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to deal with symbols.