Soulmates movie storyline. David, lieutenant of the French forces engaged in Mali, is seriously injured in an explosion. Repatriated to France, he suffered from amnesia and began a long convalescence under the devoted gaze of his sister Jeanne. In the family home in the Pyrenees, between mountains and lakes, Jeanne tries to revive her memory, but David does not seem interested in reconciling himself with who he was.
Soulmates (French: Les Âmes Soeurs) is a French drama film directed by André Téchiné, released in 2023. It stars Benjamin Voisin, Noémie Merlant, Audrey Dana, André Marcon, Sya Rachedi, Alexis Loret, Mama Prassinos, Jean Fornerod, Stéphane Bak, Eléanor Gentel, Hélène Delahodde and Aïcha Zarrabi. The screnplay was written by André Téchiné ünd Cédric Anger.
Film Review for Soulmates
A renowned French director since the end of the 1960s, André Téchiné has made 30 feature films, alternating romantic narratives and more intimate stories, often of autobiographical inspiration, never hesitating to address the significant events that society is going through, such as homosexuality, divorce, adultery, prostitution and delinquency.
Thirty years after My Favorite Season, André Téchiné returns, in this latest opus, to the very strong relationship between a brother and his sister, and explores the consequences on life of post-traumatic war amnesia. [Theme also taken up in the film It’s my man by Guillaume Bureau released that same month].
After the accident suffered by David in Mali (played by an excellent and sensitive Benjamin Voisin, seen in Summer 85), which caused him to lose his memory, and several months in the hospital, it was his sister Jeanne (a role on measure for the brilliant Noémie Merlant seen in particular in Les Olympiades, L’Innocent and TAR,) who will take care of him in their native Ariège, for a long convalescence over several seasons, which offers us very beautiful Pyrenean landscapes.
They will thus learn to (re)discover themselves through very intense intimate scenes, and through successive touches, looks and unsaid things very well filmed; the evolution of their complex, affectionate and almost loving relationship will show us how difficult it is to reconnect with a long-gone past after such trauma, especially since David is in no hurry to reunite with the man he he was before, and that Jeanne is not ready to make the same mistakes as before. From fears to misunderstandings, their bonds will loosen, which will distance them from each other for a time; the open ending of the film may leave hope of a finally peaceful relationship, the director lets us judge.
It is the exploration of the dependence between Jeanne and David that is the best part of this André Téchiné film; because what revolves around it, partially accomplished, prevents in my opinion from making a very good film!
Indeed, the disused hotel, on the edge of a lake, where Jeanne lives, because her mother worked there during her splendor, owned by Marcel, a depressed bachelor who dresses as a woman without anyone knowing why (played by André Marcon, at ease in this role, however thankless), introduces an anxiety-provoking darkness and a feeling of loneliness for Jeanne and David which makes them uncomfortable and negatively impacts their relationship.
The sale of his estate, desired by Marcel, is handled by Rachel, the rigorous and dynamic mayor of the locality (played with skill and enthusiasm by Audrey Dana who socializes by creating the essential links in this mountain town); this sale to investors in the leisure sector does not fail to have detractors; a subject of reflection in itself on nature and sustainable development, this theme is far from the heart of the film and is not completed.
Likewise, the question of incest, the subject of a heavy secret in the film, is evacuated in a rapid exchange between David and Rachel, also a doctor, when it would have deserved a real in-depth examination. So this film is quite far from a “Téchiné grand cru”, even if the tandem Noémie Merlant – Benjamin Voisin, by their presence and their intensity saves the film with their very well staged intimate relationship.
Soulmates (2023)
Les Âmes Soeurs
Directed by: André Téchiné
Starring: Benjamin Voisin, Noémie Merlant, Audrey Dana, André Marcon, Sya Rachedi, Alexis Loret, Mama Prassinos, Jean Fornerod, Stéphane Bak, Eléanor Gentel, Hélène Delahodde, Aïcha Zarrabi
Screenplay by: André Téchiné, Cédric Anger
Production Design by: Carlos Conti
Cinematography by: Georges Lechaptois
Film Editing by: Albertine Lastera
Costume Design by: Khadija Zeggaï
Set Decoration by: Carlos Conti
Art Direction by: Cyril Barrand, Sophie Lampkin
Music by: Mathieu Lamboley, Astrid Gomez-Montoya, Rebecca Delannet
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Ad Vitam Distribution (France)
Release Date: April 12, 2023
