“Die, My Love”: Jennifer Lawrence cracks and so do we

Of all the titles in competition at Cannes earlier this year, one of the most anticipated was Die My Love (Die my love), the new film by the all too rare Lynne Ramsay. In 25 years, the Scottish filmmaker has only made five feature films, all excellent, from Ratcatcherin 1999, at You Were Never Really Here (You were never really there), in 2017, through Morvern Callarin 2002, and We Need to Talk About Kevin (We need to talk about Kevin), in 2011. The wait will have been worth it. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, also a producer. The talented actress is breathtaking as an author and new mother who reacts violently to a feeling of confinement.

The Oscar-winning star for Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook (The bright side) plays Grace, whose psychological torments are not limited to postpartum. Moreover, the film does not make any diagnosis: it observes the protagonist without judgment. Will the public be able to do the same?

This is because Grace is not an “amiable” character (“She’s a character who doesn’t apologize for anything,” says Lynne Ramsay in an interview with Duty). In this regard, there is something to be said about the audacity of Jennifer Lawrence in wanting to carry this project, she who has one of the most sympathetic public images.

Note that the one we were able to appreciate in American Hustle (American scam), Don’t Look Up (Cosmic denial), Causeway (The crossing), et No Hard Feelings (No hard feelings), is supported by an entirely superb cast including Robert Pattinson in the role of Jackson, the husband, LaKeith Stanfield as the lover, Sissy Spacek as the mother-in-law, and Nick Nolte as the father-in-law (the latter two reunited almost thirty years later Afflictionde Paul Schrader).

Captivating composition

Nonetheless, Jennifer Lawrence dominates in nuances of assumed aggression and expertly channeled intensity. Its composition captivates, shakes, fascinates.

As Grace sums up to a doctor at one point, she is very attached to her baby: “He’s perfect. It’s everything else that’s crap. »

This “remainder” to which Grace refers? It is the recent rural isolation in this house that Jackson inherited, it is the frustration of not being able to write in the context of full-time maternal occupation since Jackson is constantly gone, and it is, above all, Jackson’s absence of desire since giving birth. Conversely, Grace has her libido, as they say, “in the carpet”.

In fact, Grace is like a caged animal, a wild beast. Literally. In fact, in a recurring motif, Grace advances like a panther, on all fours: a way for Lynne Ramsay to give form to the evil that is gnawing at the protagonist. Because deep down, what Grace is reacting against is her sudden “domestication”.

She will even go so far as to scratch the walls until her fingers bleed.

Oneirism and symbolism

In this regard, anyone familiar with Lynne Ramsay’s cinema knows, and most likely appreciates, her style. Which infuses the banality of reality with touches of symbolism and dreaminess.

For the record, the screenplay by Lynne Ramsay, Enda Walsh and Alice Birch is taken from a novel by Ariana Harwicz in the form of a long interior monologue. The heroine reveals her most shameless and disturbing thoughts, without censorship.

However, the film refrains from transposing this monologue into a voice-over narration, which would have been easy, but cumbersome. In this case, the approach favored by the filmmaker is ideal to ensure that the images, through their evocative power, tell us about what Grace is experiencing.

And then, Jennifer Lawrence has these looks and these inflections of voice! Often, his face displays one emotion, but his tone reveals another, contrary one. This, always with this kind of absolute naturalness that we have known about him since Winter’s Boneand which sometimes makes us unfairly forget how talented she is. Which we cannot doubt when watching Lynne Ramsay’s film.

This text is an edited version of the original review published during the Cannes Film Festival.