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The films of Hirokazu Koreeda speak to universal truths. They often find beauty in the seemingly humdrum aspects of everyday life. The Truth/La vérité (2020) has a lot in common with Koreeda’s previous work, as it focuses on family and aging. However, this is a story of a western family with western ideals. The story sees Lumir (Juliette Binoche) and her husband Hank (Ethan Hawke) returning to visit her mother Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve), an aging film star in the twilight of her career. Lumir’s childhood house is between a prison and a train, although she only remembers the confining aspects of it. The mental and physical distance Lumir has put between herself and Fabienne has doomed her to repeat the sins of her mother. The childhood duties that Lumir saw as a chore, such as brushing Fabienne’s hair are activities her daughter enjoys on the rare occasion she gets to do them. The daily violence of family interactions has taken its toll on Lumir and Fabienne’s relationship. As side-eyes and snide remarks about sensitive topics that only a parent can make rise, so do the barriers between them as this disconnect becomes an act of protection. Daily life becomes an act as Lumir and Fabienne seek to annoy or appease one another as their relationship is both harmful and healing. They seemingly reconcile their true feelings for one another, but perhaps even more important than if it was genuine, is that it was an authentic act of love.

This film is not only interested in amateur acting around those we are supposedly closest to, but also acting as a career. The casting of this film is meticulous as the actors’ real lives reflect those of the characters they portray. Fabienne is an icon of French cinema, but she lives in the shadow of her late sister who was destined to be a star, and Deneuve is a legendary actor whose sister, Françoise Dorléac, tragically passed before her acting career could flourish. Lumir wanted to be an actor to impress her mother but instead pursued a career as a screenwriter, just as Binoche began her incredible onscreen career to impress her actress mother. Hank is an actor who will never receive top billing, just as Hawke has never reached the same level of stardom as the other leading men of his generation. Former documentarian Koreeda even takes a sly dig at the lack of poetry in overly athletic filmmaking. The distinction between reality and fiction is as unclear in the fictionalised film Fabienne is making as it is in The Truth itself as Fabienne echoes Deneuve’s disdain for nudity in cinema and makes a tongue-in-cheek comment about Brigitte Bardot, fellow French icon and star of La Vérité (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960). Fabienne and Deneuve are both legendary yet controversial actors. Deneuve described the MeToo movement as a “witch hunt” and Fabienne is considered a “witch” due to her “honesty” which she describes as strength. Whether she believes this or not is unimportant as it is the truth she tells herself and has led her to incredible success. While we shouldn’t look to movie stars for moral guidance, the same cannot be said for our parents and it is clear that Lumir sees Fabienne as the antithesis of how one should act.

Koreeda’s films manage to blend mundanity with magic, but the worlds his characters occupy are rarely enchanting as he has in the past turned a critical eye to such topics as the gig economy. The family at the heart of The Truth does not have to worry about when their next meal will be as they have a French chef making the finest Italian food for them. This family has cultural, not economic issues, as Koreeda lambasts the western world’s disregard for the elderly and contrasts how we abandon those who birthed us. Take one look online and you’ll see how little respect there is for the supposed venerable in our society. I probably disagree politically with most pensioners in Ireland, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go outside and cough on them, because we all live in the same corrupt system. 

The Truth may not reach the level of Koreeda’s best such as Still Walking (2008), but no other filmmaker understands family quite like he does. Sometimes the things we struggle to express in person can be more easily said on screen, but for those of us who are not professional actors, maybe we should strive for kindness – whether it is true or not – with the ones we love.

The Truth / La vérité (Hirokazu Koreeda) was originally scheduled for release in Irish cinemas from March 20.  It is available to watch on Curzon Home Cinema.