Scarlet movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Scarlet

This artsy French film has a limited release in theaters on June 9, 2023 and will then stream online on July 26, 2023.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

The lovely French film was directed by Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello. Writing credits go to Pietro Marcello, Maurizio Braucci, Maud Ameline, and Genevieve Brisac.

It’s a coming-of-age movie set in France between 1919 and 1939, a time of great inventions and dreams.

THINGS I LIKED:

We get to see real footage of soldiers and regular citizens during the war in old film clips. They’re blended with modern footage and look, mostly, like they belong together.
I didn’t know any of the actors in the film. They look like real-life farms and craftsmen, not glossy Hollywood actors. The cast includes Raphael Thiery, Juliette Joan, Noemie Lvovsky, and Louis Garrel in the leading roles. I hope the beautiful Juliette Joan will be able to cross over to Hollywood as she deserves to be seen and heard.
The name of the protagonist is not Scarlet, as you might imagine. Instead, it refers to the sails of a ship that are supposed to show up one day to take her away to a better life.
The younger Juliette was played by Asia Brechat (10 years old), Sienna Gillibert (12 – 18 months old), Suzanne Marquis (5 years old), and Victoire Battist (baby). They were all absolutely adorable.
Gorgeous cinematography by Marco Graziaplena.
We don’t hear any dialogue until 5 minutes into the film. It’s in French with English subtitles.
So many of the still frames could be works of art. While the movie is French, so many images look like artwork from famous Dutch painters.
The original music by Gabriel Yared was very sweet and sounded very French.
I’ve been trying to learn French on DuoLingo, so it was fun to see how much I could understand. I’m on a 175-day streak!
The original title of the movie was “L’envol”, which means “take off.” We get to watch a young woman aching to take off in her life, leaving her childhood behind.
While the movie is French, there are definitely touches of Italian cinema within many scenes.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some of the scenes at night are very dark, which will make viewing difficult on small devices.
The genre of this film isn’t easily defined. It’s not a musical, although there is some singing. It’s not quite a fairytale, although there are moments that make it feel like a magical story. Mixed with those are heartbreaking struggles and clips of real footage from the time.
Those who will most enjoy this movie are those who are not in a hurry to get to a plot or resolution. Just experience the moments and let it all sink into your soul. It’s more artsy-fartsy than a straightforward drama.
There are some gaps in time and missing details, so you just have to take clues from what you see or use your own imagination.
Some viewers will think the movie ends abruptly. It does, yet it’s the precise moment that Raphael talked about with Juliette about hope.