Diane Kurys, the director and co-writer of the film ‘Après l’amour‘ (or ‘Love after Love‘ in the English distribution) is one of the few woman filmmakers who has managed to make a name for herself and build a career and her own artistic identity in French cinema. The only one who surpasses her in quality and fame is – in my opinion – Agnès Varda. Feminine themes, portraits of contemporary women and stories about their destinies in today’s world dominate the filmography of both directors. ‘Après l’amour‘ is a story about a woman and her love relationships in Paris in the 1990s. The film is built around Isabelle Huppert, perhaps even written for her. The actress creates a solid and interesting role, but her presence is just one of the reasons why ‘Après l’amour‘ is worth watching or rewatching.
Lola is a writer. The story in the film takes place between her birthday parties #35 and #36. She has published a novel inspired by her own life, is struggling to write the second one and is not really succeeding. The reason may be that her own love life – her main source of inspiration – is going through a crisis. She is involved in two romantic relationships at the same time and does not want to decide on one of them. Determined to remain single and not have children, she has been since she was a teenager in a long-term relationship with the architect David, who in turn has a family and two children. We are told that this type of polygamy is (was?) very common in Paris. Lola also meets and falls in love with Tom, a successful musician, handsome and somewhat younger man. This relationship seems more physical and passionate, although Tom is also married and has two children. Both relationships become complicated and Lola will have to do what she had always postponed or thought she would never have to do – make decisions about where her life is going.
This is one of the films that marks the transition of the formidable actress that is Isabelle Huppert from the roles of her youth to the much more complex and often much darker ones of the second part of her career. I really liked the way she approached the character of Lola in ‘Après l’amour‘. Perfect as always in playing the role of a woman who internalizes her feelings, Isabelle Huppert exposes in this film a personal trait rarely found in her characters – a vulnerability full of feminine sensitivity, which will also dominate the postponements and choices that she will make in the end. The roles of the two men in her life are played by Bernard Giraudeau and Hippolyte Girardot, and in two secondary roles appear a young Yvan Attal, then at the beginning of his career, and the Portuguese actress Lio, beautiful and talented and who I think deserved a more visible career on the screens. Diane Kurys‘ direction is discreet and balanced, the female perspective is visible through its psychological depth, without being strident. ‘Après l’amour‘ is a film that has stood the test of time over three decades since its creation.