Saying nothing sometimes says the most

In Stephane Brize's eloquent tale, Mademoiselle Chambon, he tackles the unexplainable attraction between two people of different worlds. The protagonist of our cinematic journey, Jean, is married and has a son whom he loves dearly. He leads a very simple life as a mason and is a doting husband, father and son. He visits his father weekly to sit with him and wash the old man's feet. He does not come from a luxurious, academic background which is made clear by the opening scene, where Jean and his wife struggle to help their son deduce what the direct object of a simple sentence is. Yet there is no obvious indication that Jean is unhappy or that he has cause to be; Until he meets Mademoiselle Chambon, his son's grammar teacher. She seems to awaken a longing in him that he was previously unaware of. However, Mademoisellle Chambon does not provoke this relationship. It is as if they are being pulled together by an invisible magnet. Their attraction is beyond their control. But does that make it right? The film casts no judgement. Instead it simply poses the question of whether it is right to deny the heart's desires? Brizet has accomplished creating an intense feeling of intimacy without much dialogue. The film has very little talking and the communication is primarily accomplished through the use of music, specifically Mademoiselle Chambon's intoxicating violin playing. The main characters express themselves through longing looks and unfinished sentences that suggest they don't understand their actions either. The actors were incredibly poignant in their potrayals and rather than making it a tale about an adulterous husband, they've accepted their longings and are searching for a way to deal with them. Their truth lies in their silence.


*the title of the post is a quote by Emily Dickinson.