Je verrai toujours vos visages

The topic is not the same, but the overall atmosphere and more or less scheme, kind of drama, reminded me TWELVE ANGRY MEN, a story which takes mostly place in one room - whithout being a trial - involving people, men and woman, victims and perpetrators, facing each other, and trying to talk, explaining, showing, confessing what they felt....it has never been done before and that makes it even more powerful, astounding. It is purely stunning. Terrific dialogues. However, I can understand that some audiences may be annoyed , because it is naive, unrealistic. That's a matter of taste, point of view, that depends of which angle you watch it. Something is wrong in the story lines, when a young hoodlums speaks of a home jacking where he and his pals took credit cards with the secret code to retrieve money from the cash machines. In France, with a credit card - stolen or not - you can retrieve ONLY 400 euros each week. So when this hoodlum says that one of his pals bought a new motorcycle with his share of the loot, that's not possible.... The hoodlums could only at best retrieve 400 euros. Because a few hours after the homejacking, the victimes have necessarily declared the robbery to their bank. 400 euros shared between three, that's doesn't allow anyone to buy a new motorcycle. No way. And the most unusual is that you have two different stories in this film: the group and Chloée character problems with her half brother. They never meet. Strange but why not.

One film, one theme, two storylines. A confrontation between victims and perpetrators, which should have added value for each side. The one in which people with no direct connection meet seems to bring the desired insights and peace. Naive, but perhaps. Aversion, getting to know each other, understanding. Just a film, idealistic. But at least one that literally shows its colours regarding the perpetrators of the current crime terror over Europe. Of course, the usual explanations and excuses for the escalation of character are used: poverty, education, opportunities. Yawn. Everyone chooses their own exits at the crossroads of morality. But yes, otherwise this film would certainly not have ended up on the big screen, or would have been crucified by the media instead of being showered with awards. In my opinion, the softening of concepts such as perpetrator, victim and guilt are questionable approaches and primarily benefit injustice.

The other side works less well in its catharsis. Understandably, the resurgence of all pain through direct contact with the perpetrator is an emotional one-way street.

I went to see the film because it featured some of the cinematic greats of French cinema, but I can only recommend it to a limited extent. No resonance, no added value. Nevertheless, it is a high-quality production, well acted and at least endeavours to keep its feet on the ground. If I imagine this as a German production, ouch.

I have a Bachelors in Arts in Criminology. And a double in Psychology. Not many people know this about me, because, frankly, I am embarrassed because I do not use it at all in my life. I feel like I wasted my 4 years in college and have basically no career; doing basically nothing; what could have been done with a high school diploma.

But I digress.

I only confessed it now to give some validity to my next statement, which is that this restorative program between offenders and victims needs to be a real thing. And not only in France. World wide. My studies and own personal research tells me that this is real. It works more often than it does not- maybe not in the ways people want it to, but it is real progress. Kudos to the filmmakers for such an insightful premise, and to the actors and actresses for some damn fine performances all around. Bravo!

Without a shadow of a doubt I am saying this is the best movie I've seen in 2023 and I've seen a lot. Also, this is the first one on restorative justice (a program that bonds criminals and victims in order for criminals to become aware of the harm they inflicted, feel remorse and change), and it was a real eye-opener. It both opened my eyes to see the fruit of this hard work done by amazing people, a lot of them being volunteers, who believe in this system; and made these eyes cry. It takes a lot of courage and perseverance to keep going and do this work that might seem totally impossible at the outset.

I am thanking all the people involved in making this film because we need to know that this exists, that this works, and that broken lives (both the victims' and the criminals') can be mended, and start anew. Bravo! Je verrai toujours vos visages.

No pun intended - why do people do the things they do? Don't they realize their actions have consequences? Quite big ones to the people they are doing them to ... too. This pits victims and perpetrators together in a room ... and it can be explosive, but mostly informative ... what happens, how self reflective can they be and become? You'll have to watch to find out.

The acting is amazing to say the least. Considering that most of the movie plays in one room, the dynamic, the script and the dialog has to work ... and it does. You also have a family side story - with the same topic of sorts. But equally heavy ... if not heavier because emotions are way bigger with this one.

There are outbursts ... I did expect more, but it is ok, it is more about substance than about effect! And it works ... it may not be a solution for everyone - but it may be worth doing a program like that ... maybe it already exists. Really good movie ... with a somewhat hopeful message.