Jodie Foster Gives a Flawless French Performance in ‘A Private Life’

Jodie Foster continues to prove her acting mettle with a flawless French performance in A Private Life. She stars as Lilian Steiner, a prominent Paris psychiatrist who fears one of her long-term patients has been murdered. Her efforts to uncover the truth lead to startling personal epiphanies that have major ramifications for everyone she holds dear. A Private Life is sophisticated adult cinema for discerning audiences who can appreciate an intricate story with a superb lead. The film has many layers, not all of which are successful, but it is definitely engrossing.

The mystery begins with Lilian, an American who’s lived for years in France, waiting in her apartment/office for a scheduled weekly therapy session with Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira). A knock at the door isn’t Paula, but the irate Pierre (Noam Morgensztern), another of her regular patients who feels ripped off. He’d spent thousands of Euros on Lilian trying to quit a bad habit, and achieved the goal in one session with a hypnotist. Pierre calls Lilian a fraud and demands his money back.

This interaction unnerves Lilian, but she must remain calm for Paula. She becomes concerned at Paula’s absence, lack of returned calls, and reaches out to her daughter. The pregnant Valérie (Luana Bajrami) shocks Lilian with the news that Paula committed suicide. Lilian finds this impossible to believe, as Paula had never displayed any suicidal tendencies or thoughts to her. A visit to Paula’s apartment to uncover additional details proves disastrous. Simon (Mathieu Amalric), Paula’s widowed husband, like Pierre, curses Lilian. He blames her for Paula’s death.

Lilian reels at this accusation. Lilian sees her ex-husband, Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), and expresses her belief that Paula was killed. Gabriel, who still cares deeply for Lilian, cautions her to be careful. He wants her to spend more time with their son, Julien (Vincent Lacoste), and newborn grandson, but Lilian won’t be dissuaded. Someone murdered Paula, and it’s her duty to find them.

Lilian’s transformation into a private detective spirals out of control and triggers many unexpected consequences. Director/co-writer Rebecca Zlotowski (Grand Central, Planetarium) gives Foster the platform for fascinating character development; to say there’s a lot going on with Lilian is a vast understatement. Paula’s death and the ire of the people Lilian thought she was helping causes uncomfortable introspection – has her professional career as a psychiatrist been a waste of time? What has she really done to help her patients? Has Lilian failed them as she did in her marriage and as a mother?

Jodie Foster stars in ‘A Private Life’

Sony Pictures Classics

Foster is superb, as always, in emoting a rattled protagonist’s existential struggles, but remaining firmly committed to the task at hand. A wild second act has Lilian taking big risks while embroiling a concerned Gabriel in her machinations to unmask a killer. Foster gives Lilian this magnetic appeal, where you support her at every turn, but question: has she lost herself in a puzzle of her own making? Perception versus reality becomes a strange subplot that overtakes the film and adds a new twist, though it doesn’t quite achieve its intended goal.

Zlotowski brings anti-Semitic themes to the forefront in unusual flashbacks that reveal a different side of Lilian and her connection to Paula. The characters are all Jewish, with France’s history during the Nazi invasion of World War II coming into play. This is a seismic shift with an artistic visual component that both intrigues and confounds at the same time. You understand how this troubled time affects the ensemble, but its pertinence to the perceived crime at the film’s core and depiction of fantasy events are tenuous. Zlotowski gets overly ambitious and muddies the narrative waters to the point of almost being opaque.

Let’s further deconstruct the rising action, focus on what works, and address where Zlotowski should have reined in certain impulses. Foster and Auteuil, a titan of French cinema as an actor and director, have amazing chemistry. Lilian and Gabriel address why their marriage failed as they snoop around like Holmes and Watson. There’s an attraction they both embrace and stoke because it has been sadly missing from their lives. It’s hard to extinguish the fire of love and lust, but they’re smart enough to recognize limitations and accept wherever a new path takes them. The relationship between Lilian and Gabriel is the film’s strongest arc.

Luana Bajrami and Mathieu Amalric in A Private Life

Zlotowski’s cinematography and production design are key to establishing tension. A Private Life looks tremendous in every frame with grainy stock. She’s intimate in long close-ups, but also uses lingering overhead shots to physically depict the film’s winding structure. There’s nothing rushed as bustling Paris and rural pastoral settings are captured with an elegant focus under noirish lighting. Darkness, vivid hues, and even the falling rain feel both sumptuous and sinister.

The Nazi sequences are integral to A Private Life’s resolve, but should have been truncated. They have a specific purpose that’s blurred with overreach, especially concerning Lilian’s son, and her distance from him is a big stretch. A leaner edit that sticks to investigating Paula’s death and Lilian’s personal growth would have served Zlotowski’s vision better.

A Private Life (originally titled Vie Privée) has French dialogue and English subtitles. A production of Les Films Velvet and France 3 Cinéma, it will be released theatrically on January 16th in the U.S. from Sony Pictures Classics.