Mathias Vogler (François Civil) , a tortured pianist prodigy — is there any other kind? — returns to Lyon after eight years of absence at the request of his mentor, the famous pianist Elena (Charlotte Rampling). The cliché is that he came to reencounter his past; but in the script by Desplechin and Kamen Velkovsky, his past never left him and he is there to define his future.
The film is structured not so much around Mathias’s relationship with music as with the women who support, nourish and torment his life. His mother (Anne Kessler) begs him to leave Lyon and fulfil his destiny as a wonderful soloist. Elena, his mentor, challenges him to be better than her; Claude (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), his former, never-forgotten flame, is a demure teaser who recognizes her duties as a widow but can´t refuse pleasure. Judith (Alba Gaïa Bellugi), Claude’s sister-in-law, offers solace and perspective. Max (the great Hyppolite Girardot), the other man in the drama, gives stability, common sense and a lot of humor to his former client, now mostly a friend. Pierre, Claude’s charming, loving husband, disappears rather conveniently very soon.
Paul Gilhaume, the cinematographer and Laurence Briaud, the editor, are playful with the angles of the close-ups, especially with Elena in relation to Mathias. She is almost always shot from low angles, as the music goddess that she is. But in her most intimate conversations with Matthias, when she almost smiles, the camera is leveled. When she confesses a weakness there is a discreet high angle. But the most compelling conversation between Elena and Matthias is when the pianos dialogue between themselves, especially the first time they play together after a long absence.
Gregoire Hetzel resists the temptation of overuse piano music and a soulful sax accents the yearning of impossible love.
Maybe the center of the drama is the obsession — love? passion? — Mathias has with Claude, and their rendezvous plays out in a rather melodramatic way. But the music imposes its presence. Strangely enough, Claude does not seem interested in music or the pianist´s career. And the film limits itself to offering a compromise in this impossible love.
They are rumors about why Two Pianos held its premiere in Spain instead of on the Croissette, the usual venue for Desplechin. A loss for Cannes is a win for San Sebastian, and for the film’s soundtrack with the splendid acoustics of the Kursaal.
Direction: Arnaud Desplechin
Screenplay: Arnaud Desplechin, Kamen Velkovsky
Cast: François Civil, Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Charlotte Rampling, Hippolyte Girardot
Cinematography: Paul Guilhaume
Editing: Laurence Briaud
Music: Grégoire Hetzel
Sound: Daniel Sobrino, Sylvain Malbrant, Margot Saada, Emmanuel Croset
Venue: San Sebastian International Film Festival (Official Competition)
Running time: 115 min.
In French
