Two of Us (Deux): French tale of women in love, coming out on the far side of 60, is a small gem
By Karen Gordon
Rating: A-minus
Two of Us (Deux), is an LGBTQ romance about two long time lovers who want to come out into the light. It’s s a small gem of a movie.
In his first feature, Filippo Meneghetti has created a love story between two women who have waited until very late in life to be together in an open way, and treats them with genuine respect. How wonderful to see a movie that deals with the emotional and sexual life of two very different women north of 60, who are the sum of their lives, not bound by cultural cliches or perceptions.
Barbara Sukowa and Martine Chevallier in Two of Us (Deux)
Two of Us is set in a small town in France, where two women in their retirement years live in apartments across the hall from each other on the top floor of the building.
Madeleine (Martine Chevallier) is a widow, a mother and a grandmother living in a beautifully decorated apartment that speaks of a comfortable and conventional life. Nina (Barbara Sukowa) is a single woman, who lives across the hall in a more bohemian way.
The proximity isn’t random.
The two women have secretly been lovers for many years. Now, that Madeleine is free of her marriage, they can be together. Nina wants them to sell their apartments and move to Rome, where they can finally live together in the open.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
But there is a glitch in all of this: Madeline’s adult children think Nina is a friendly neighbour, and assume that their mother had had a very loving, happy marriage with their father. She is working up to telling them the truth.
But then something intrudes that upends everything for the women.
The movie begins as story about a secret relationship looking for a way to flourish, but, with the twist, it becomes something different, almost taking on the tone of a mystery. And, as if a mother contending with coming out to her children wasn’t already an emotional conundrum, the movie becomes even more complex.
For a first-timer, Meneghetti shows admirable restraint. He holds his ground, never going for the obvious, or resorting to melodrama or sensationalism. Instead he lets the story take its time and relies on his fine cast to bring the nuances of the circumstances to life.
And of course, the heart of the movie is the deep history of its protagonists, the quiet patience they have exhibited, waiting decades to step out into the world together. It’s a tribute to the fine acting of its principals, and the modest, emotionally rich and rewarding movie that evolves around their relationship and subsequent events.
Two of Us (Deux). Written by Filippo Meneghetti and Malysone Bovorasmy. Directed by Filippo Meneghetti. Starring Barbara Sukowa, Martine Chevelier, Léa Drucker, Muriel Bénazéraf, and Jérôme Varanfrain.
Two of Us is available to rent Friday, February 5 on the Apple TV app and on other VOD platforms, or on virtual cinema – Inside Out and digital TIFF Bell Lightbox (across Canada) and VIFF Connect (BC only).