The Furniture: Framing Perpetual Childhood in The Truth
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 2:01PM "The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.
Towards the end of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth, legendary actress Fabienne Dangeville (Catherine Deneuve) admits something quite harsh. “I prefer to have been a bad mother, a bad friend and a good actress,” she announces at dinner. Her talent and her single-mindedness have given her a lengthy career, multiple Césars, and the freedom to take liberties with her own story. Her soon-to-be-published memoir is the occasion for which her daughter, Lumir (Juliette Binoche), has come for a visit, bringing her American husband (Ethan Hawke) and their daughter, Charlotte (Clémentine Grenier). And this short trip quickly becomes a long one, once Lumir agrees to step in as her mother’s assistant on the set of a science-fiction film.
Lumir’s presence becomes an opportunity to relive and relitigate family history. It’s not just that Fabienne’s memoir strays from the truth, but that their entire relationship is based on contested memories. Kore-eda suggests that it might be Fabienne’s work that has so deeply wounded her personal relationships. Has the vocation of make-believe crept into the rest of her life, encouraging her to freely reshape her own memories and ignore the truths of those closest to her? Has acting made Fabienne a forever-child?
And how on earth do you express that with production design?
Art director/production designer Riton Dupire-Clément has essentially two locations to work with: Fabienne’s house and the sets of Memories of My Mother, the science fiction film-within-a-film that Kore-eda has taken from a short story by Ken Liu. And while the latter sets are quite a bit flashier, it’s Charlotte’s discovery of Fabienne’s home that lays the groundwork.
Charlotte has mostly grown up in New York, so when she looks up at her grandmother’s house she instantly thinks “castle.” And from her perspective it’s certainly big enough. We watch her struggle up the spiral staircase to her mother’s childhood bedroom, nearly out of breath when she gets to the top.
Lumir’s childhood space is accented with light pinks and blues, a very ‘70s green plaid lamp and a well worn model of a theater. Charlotte is instantly fascinated by the tiny proscenium and its little actors, which likely charmed her mother in the same way.
We follow Charlotte around the house, exploring Fabienne’s tasteful chambers and lightly charismatic furniture. She stops to marvel at the relics of her grandmother’s career, framed old posters and a pair of Césars on a mantle.
Charlotte believes that her grandmother is a powerful witch, or at least it’s a game of make believe that she’s willing to play. And through Charlotte’s perspective, the entire film becomes an examination of the dollhouse that Fabienne has built for herself - and which Lumir has spent her entire life trying to escape from.
The set of Memories of My Mother is, thus, an extension of Fabienne’s magic. Magic with a craft services table, which is where Charlotte meets the child actress playing the 7-year-old version of her grandmother.
Charlotte’s visit coincides with scenes in a futuristic little girl’s bedroom. The plot of Memories of My Mother is simple enough. Rising star Manon Lenoir (Manon Clavel) plays the mother, a woman who goes to space to remain young forever. She can only return to visit her daughter, Amy, once every 7 years. Fabienne plays Amy in her later years, a woman who has gradually become older than her own mother.
Over a series of set visits, we meet a series of Amys. Amy at 38 (Ludivine Sagnier) chats with her mother outdoors, or rather on some astroturf in front of a projected forest. This era of Amy, the closest in age to the real Lumir, is the least tangible.
It’s but a brief moment away from the furniture of youth. Fabienne’s scenes, Amy at 73 and 80, take place in what appears to be a futuristic home for the aged. The colors are muted, slightly calmer versions of the childhood bedroom palette. The decor is an odd mixed of future and past, including a vintage typewriter by the window.
It is a second childhood, of sorts, though one could argue Amy never really left her first. As she stands under the paper “HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY,” we are confronted with the face of an actress in a flash of self-awareness. In this dramatic and painful moment, something seems to finally click for Fabienne.
She falls, the bright-colored candies around her neck tumbling to the floor. It’s a great take. Fabienne’s revelation has elevated her performance, creating something stark and powerful. Of course, the director of this (probably not very good) movie still wants her to shorten her delivery by 20%. And that’s a nice reminder that Kore-eda isn’t really interested in Amy, so much as the way that being Amy has affected Fabienne.
Good production design can slowly encourage us to realize things. Framing Fabienne’s house around Charlotte sets up a story of make believe, inviting us to see with the eyes of a child. Framing Fabienne within a futuristic childhood allows her to see herself differently - and for us to see her differently, a particularly crucial step when she’s as iconic as Catherine Deneuve. Finally, after the film’s almost-resolution, Kore-eda once again suggests a dollhouse. But this time, we hang above Fabienne’s magic castle, watching the family head off into the world. And they very well might be watching us back.
Reader Comments (4)
Somehow this movie came and went from a director i love with stars i also love and it slipped me by. Must rectify that so that I can really dive into this one. thanks for the reminder of this film's existence.
Such a beautifully crafted film and a great performance by Catherine Deneuve .
Situs Slot Gacor Lengkap Hari Ini dengan bonus terbaik. Pemain yang sudah bergabung sebagai member poker88 tentunya bisa merasakan berbagai keuntungan menarik lainnya. Hampir semua penikmat game dewa poker slot online uang asli indonesia mengatakan bahwa bermain slot online gacor sangat menjanjikan penambahan uang bagi pemainnya. Cara daftar slot online terpercaya sangat gampang sekali. Berikut ini adalah cara-cara registrasi slot online terbaru yang harus kalian ikuti.
⚡ Telah berusia di atas 17 tahun.
⚡ Klik tombol daftar slot online yang ada di website terpercaya.
⚡ Daftar menggunakan alamat email, nomor telepon, dan no rekening bank.
⚡ Mengisi formulir pendaftaran dengan lengkap dan benar.
I discovered this site and it introduced me to a transformative and enlightening phase of the spiritual journey. It provided valuable insight and resources to help me navigate this intense experience. The site's content has deepened my understanding of the spiritual journey stages of development and provided guidance for those on this path. Overall, it served as an informative and enlightening resource for me during my spiritual journey.