The always brilliant Juliette Binoche stars as Marianne Winckler, an author who is writing a book about the struggle of the poorest section of French society. In order to research it, she moves to a new town and tries to live on minimum wage, taking a variety of cleaning jobs. She finds her co-workers to be generous, kind and resilient but the working conditions inhumane.
There is a lot to like in Emmanuel Carrere’s drama. The plight of a group of people that most people ignore, at best, and take for granted is really moving. They come across as fleshed-out people rather than just character types to progress the story. Not shown as saints, but truly authentic human beings who deserve so much more from life. The cast is universally excellent. As well as Binoche, Helène Lambert stands out as Chrystelle, the woman that Marianne becomes closest to.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the film, the story starts to focus more on Marianne’s cover up of who she really is. I did not find her, Chrystelle and another worker, Marilou (Lea Carne) accidentally stowing away on board a ferry credible. It was just a plot contrivance to enable Marianne’s secret to be exposed. I found the film was more compelling when showing the daily grind of the lives of the struggling women.
That quibble aside, it packs a regular powerful punch.
Between Two Lives is still showing at some art house cinemas and can also be viewed at home. If you choose the latter option, please note that there are no English subtitles for this French language film on Amazon.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10