Florida's Film, Television and the Arts Magazine
A Private Life
Any film that opens with Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ grabs me instantly. The song sets the tone for A Private Life, the new film starring Jodie Foster. Foster’s character, Lillian Steiner, is a psychotherapist with quite a bizarre carton of cracked eggs as her patients.
And one of these has just committed suicide. Or has she? Could it have been ... murder?
The film is slyly humorous, as Steiner fastens her ‘Miss Marple’ hat firmly atop her head and sets off to investigate the death of her client/friend. Was it the client's daughter, currently facing her own deep psychological issues? Perhaps it was her not-so-bereaved husband, who, of course, has been philandering all over town and starts shrieking at Steiner the moment she arrives at the wake.
Accompanying her on some of her inquiries is her ex-husband, Gabriel Haddad - the multiple-award-winning French actor, Daniel Auteuil. When Haddad is not trying to seduce his ex-wife, as he does whenever he sees her, Haddad proves to be an excellent accomplice. He embeds himself so much into the case - could it have been Haddad, resenting the closeness of his ex to the dead woman, acting in a jealous fit of rage?
In trying to deduce the culprit, Steiner follows multiple trails of breadcrumbs. She consults with a seductive hypnotist. She catches the new widower with his hand in the cookie jar. And she also believes someone has released a dybbuk. Yes, some Jewish guilt and Yiddish folklore are brough into play. Steiner, almost always tense in her posture and actions, has also contracted some sort of eye irritation, making it seem as if she’s tearing up. In a profession which requires emotional detachment, this is a distracting, frustrating liability.
Foster speaks fluent French; A Private Life is presented in French with English subtitles. Her character is American and it’s quite funny to watch Foster slip into English a few times to curse the French, the language and their customs, which she believes are being used against her to stymie her investigation. Watching Steiner stir the pot, her eyes glinting with intelligence and determination, as she drives towards her j’accuse moment, is a delight.
