After last Memorial Day weekend’s weather woes, it seems appropriate that the movie I am reviewing this weekend is called Let the Sunshine In, a French movie with English subtitles. An award-winning film from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the film features a tour de force performance from France’s master thespian, Juliette Binoche.
The film opens with a nude Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) making boring love to a married man. He departs and Isabelle looks at the sunlight beaming through her window. Isabelle continues to have other affairs for different reasons with other men (an actor and an artist), but she often feels incomplete.
Being an artist, the only solace that Isabelle seems to find is through her art. However, when she starts confusing love with lust, Isabelle’s artistry begins to suffer on a retreat. Going into a state of melancholia, Isabelle seeks answers from a psychic/life counselor played by Gerard Depardieu.
Let the Sunshine In is the type of film that an American producer will remake with a Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis or Brie Larson in the leading role. It is a total “chick flick” with male actors in subordinate roles, yet Binoche is such a fascinating woman to watch, with or without her clothes on.
For those looking for family fare, Pandas 3-D is a wonderful 45-minute documentary at the Museum of Discovery and Science IMAX Theater in Ft. Lauderdale. Narrated by Kristen Bell, this film is set in China at the Chengdu Base which oversees the breeding of giant pandas in captivity. Inspired by the black bear program in New Hampshire, a Chengdu Base scientist crosses continents to continue her research.
Away from international politics, one can become inspired by these two cross-cultural scientists who want to create a better quality of life for this frail panda. Though this is a documentary, it ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. Don’t worry kiddies, the pandas will not turn into dust, but the ending is satisfying and justifies the purpose for scientific research.
One nice thing about reviewing movies like Let the Sunshine In and Pandas 3-D is that both movies are life affirming.