A One Mann’s Movies review of “A Private Life” (From the 2025 London Film Festival). (2025, 4*, ’15’).
Original title: Vie privée
A lady of many talents, Jodie Foster attended the Lycée Français de Los Angeles, a French-language prep-school, and so is fluent in French. (She has in fact done the dubbing for the French versions of many of her English-language films.) This is immediately obvious when you watch her new film – “Vie privée” (“A Private Life”) – where she effortlessly plays an American psychologist working in Paris. It’s a really engaging film, full of comedy and veering into some of the style of the more lighter-hearted end of the Hitchcock oeuvre.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
One of the patients of renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) commits suicide. As she has shown no signs of suicidal thoughts at their last session, Lilian suspects foul play.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: R. (The film has not yet been rated by the BBFC but I would expect it to be a 15 for strong language and one scene of strong sex. The MPAA rating was based on “some sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief violence”.)
Talent:
Starring: Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste, Luàna Bajrami, Noam Morgensztern, Sophie Guillemin.
Directed by: Rebecca Zlotowski.
Written by: Anne Berest, Rebecca Zlotowski & with Gaëlle Macé.
Running Time: 1h 43m.
Summary:
Positives:
- Some great laugh-out-loud comedy moments.
- Foster and Auteuil are both fantastic.
- A wonderfully quirky soundtrack.
- Some wonderful cinematography, especially during driving scenes.
Negatives:
- The usually reliable Mathieu Amalric felt not quite on his top game here.
Full Review of “A Private Life”:
Tired psychologist.
Jodie Foster gives a fabulous performance here as the world-weary psychiatrist who barely seems to listen to her patients any more. She is brought up short one day when a long term patient (Noam Morgensztern) claims to have been cured of his smoking compulsion after a single 50 Euro session with a hypnotist (Sophie Guillemin). Given he has spent over 32,000 Euros with Steiner, he’s not happy!
To pile on the pressure to her fragile ego, another of her patients, Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira) commits suicide, something her husband (Mathieu Amalric) and daughter (Luàna Bajrami) clearly hold her responsible for.
Comedy Gold.
It’s always been my view that some of the most fucked-up individuals seem to be drawn to enter the world of psychiatry. As if to prove the point, Foster’s Steiner seems incapable of any sort of empathy. The clever script builds on this premise with some wonderfully comic moments.
Steiner can absolutely be classified as a ‘Bad Granny’ since she has a dysfunctional relationship with her son Julien (Vincent Lacoste) seemingly being unable to emotionally connect with her new grandson. She sees her sudden uncontrollable teary-ness as an impossible weakness, requiring immediate curing. And her paranoia about being watched then turns, in great Hitchcockian fashion, into real events that support her wild ideas.
Acting as a foil to Foster is the calm and sardonic Daniel Auteuil as her ex-husband Gabriel Haddad, a perfectly pitched performance. The on-off relationship between Steiner and Haddad is both touching and believable, with the son Julien suitably despairing when he finds them snogging in the kitchen!
Veering into the unbelievable.
Where the film perhaps over-steps itself is in a forest-set piece of espionage which didn’t feel remotely realistic to me. (Mind you, I could have said the same about Cary Grant’s Roger Thornhill boldly confronting James Mason’s Phillip Vandamm in “North By Northwest”!) But I felt that the film felt more at ease when it was sticking to its rather claustrophobic urban-Paris knitting.
Technical brilliance.
The film is beautifully delivered by Rebecca Zlotowski, right from the vivid opening shot of the twitching hand of Steiner in the snow to some wonderful ‘past lives’ flashback scenes.
There is some genuinely impressive cinematography from French DP George Lechaptois. The internal driving scenes in particular (of which there are many) are all beautifully lit and beautifully framed.
I also greatly enjoyed the quirky score by ‘Rob’ (Robin Coudert) which is perfectly fitting for the tone of the film.
Almaric
I’m normally a fan of Mathieu Amalric, but I found him to be a slightly weak link in this one. His performance felt a bit jarring to me.
Summary Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this one. Impressive performances from Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil and an engaging and humorous script. Recommended.
Tickets for the London Film Festival showings on Thursday 9th and Saturday 11th are currently sold out, but here is the booking web site to check for returns or other showings.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer is not yet available, but a clip from the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3RSzFziCHo.
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