instead of dealing with/exploring the rare cases of women who murder thier children (and why they do it), the film gives the main character a "get out" clause which makes her likeable at the end.
sharei like this ending. it kinda teaches you a lesson. the audience judges her throughout the whole movie and then you find out the truth.
shareI completely agree. I liked the movie, but the revelation at the end felt so pat and predictable. And even so, they could've made it more painful and emotional; they barely explored the situation. Still, like I said, I thought this was a good movie, just a flawed one.
I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar.
I kind of saw it coming, only because Juliette was likeable the whole way through!
shareOrangewarm, seems that you wanted/expected a totally different movie about women who murder their kids (which, by the way, is not as rare as you think) for reasons which aren’t morally ambguous like mercy killing. Yes, women do kill their kids out of anger or because their lover doesn’t like the kids, etc, but this movie is not about those situations. The interesting thing is that apparently for YOU as the viewer, mercy killing was a “get out” clause, whihc makes the character likeable in the end, but for the character in the movie, mercy killing was NOT a get out clause; she felt guilty enough to condem herself to life in prison by her silence. This movie is a lot more subtle than whether the character is likable or not.
shareI also did perceive it like a get out clause after seeing the movie, but on the other hand, the film was effective in portraying guilt, and the euthanasia did work for that specific theme. My opinion is that you keep on guessing about why Juliette has killed her son. At first, I was rather enclined to believe that she had killed him out of frustration and anger, namely after seeing her reaction when Lea's daughter asks to read her a poem. But throughout the film, as Juliette's character progresses, I realized that there must have been something else behind the crime. Nevertheless, I still think that the writer/director played it safe, and as an audience, it doesn't really bring us to question ourselves as much.
I don't want realism. I want magic!
I disagree. I think the topic of euthanasia is a very important one, especially since in most places it is illegal. I also think that those who are opposed to euthanasia would not like her in the end, don't you?
shareThe OP is correct. This movie really annoyed me. It was loaded with cliches throughout. That we would eventually be told that Juliette had a legitimate reason for killing her son was a predictable formality.
shareagree with the OP.
sharei agree with you (even though i knew it was going to be a mercy killing from the moment we find out the child was six). by revealing the reason at the end, we dont get any exploration of the ethics of euthanasia (...for example, they could have tied it in with the senile mother, having her say something in a brief moment of lucidity like "i dont want to live anymore", which is actually not uncommon).
but by not revealing the reason (even though it's pretty obvious), we get michel and her sister accepting her regardless, which is a sign of true love (the title is not only about juliette's love for her son, but lea's unconditional love for her sister).
I don't agree. That would have been a completely different film altogether, an interesting one too. The main character from the start gets you wondering why the hell she would kill her son, it just didn't make sense, so the reveal at the end is not that surprising, and not disappointed in the context either.
A film about a mother who has killed her child without any logical reason would be an interesting premise for a film.