''Let the Sunshine In'' (french: Un beau soleil intérieur), or ''Bright Sunshine In'', is a 2017 French romantic drama film directed by

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

. The film is an adaptation of

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popular ...

's 1977 text '' A Lover's Discourse: Fragments'' (French: ''Fragments d’un discours amoureux'')''.'' Novelist

Christine Angot Christine Angot (born 7 February 1959) is a French novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Life Born Pierrette Marie-Clotilde Schwartz (Schwartz being her mother's name) in Châteauroux, Indre, she is perhaps best known for her 1999 novel ''L'I ...

and frequent Denis collaborator

Jean-Pol Fargeau Jean-Pol Fargeau is a French screenwriter and frequent collaborator of writer-director Claire Denis. They have made ten films together, most notably '' Chocolat'' (1988), ''Beau Travail'' (1999), and ''35 Shots of Rum'' (2008). Career Jean-Pol F ...

have both been reported as Denis's co-writers on the project. It opened the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

section of the

2017 Cannes Film Festival The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar was the President of the Jury for the festival and Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and ...

. At Cannes, it won the SACD Award.

Plot

Isabelle, a middle-aged divorced artist, has an unsatisfying relationship with a married banker, Vincent, who enjoys the sex with her but is committed emotionally to his wife. Looking for love, she begins a series of other relationships. She meets and feels an instant connection with an actor who, after she sleeps with him, reveals he is not separated from his wife despite what he had said earlier. She begins sleeping with her ex-husband but picks a fight, ending their relationship. Isabelle is wooed eventually by Marc, influential in the art world, who says he wants things to progress slowly and offers a serious relationship. However, Isabelle sees a psychic, who tells her that, although the relationship will not last, she should keep looking for the right man.

Cast

Production

Director

and

co-wrote the screenplay of the film.

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

played the lead role in the film. The film began shooting in January 2017 in

Creuse Creuse (; oc, Cruesa or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the eas ...

, France. Shooting wrapped on 21 February 2017. The film was shot by

Agnès Godard Agnès Godard (born 28 May 1951) is a French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis. For her work, she has won a César Award. Life and career Godard originally studied journalism, but s ...

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

' version of the song "

At Last "At Last" is a song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film '' Sun Valley Serenade'' (1941). Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded the tune several times, with a 1942 version reaching number two on the US '' Billboard'' ...

" was used in the film.

Release

The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the

section at the

on 18 May 2017. It was released in France on 27 September 2017.

Critical reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 140 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Let the Sunshine In'' pairs a powerful performance from Juliette Binoche with a layered drama that presents director Claire Denis at her most assured." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Glen Kenny of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

'' gave the film 4 stars out of 4, saying, "the film does confront the fact that particularly for women, pursuing desire in middle age is a fraught path." Greg Cwik of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' called it "the most empathetic, heartfelt film of laire Denis'illustrious career."

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Claire Denis 2017 films 2017 romantic drama films French romantic drama films 2010s French-language films Films directed by Claire Denis Films set in Paris 2010s French films Films produced by Olivier Delbosc