MovieChat Forums > Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2009) Discussion > wait... i'm confused...

wait... i'm confused...

posted 16 years ago by filmbuff87
15 replies | jump to latest

i loved this movie. very moving, beautiful, and well performed; but the ending was illogical.

how could no one know about this boy's illness? even after the death, an autopsy would have been done and the illness revealed. the only way around that would be that she buried the boy herself and no one ever saw the boy's body... and she of course kidnapped the boy so no one saw him alive and ill. but that makes me wonder, how was she able to give him tests if she had kidnapped him? wouldne she be like "on the run"? or was it not a true kidnapping?

there was one more thing that made me curious; the sister didnt want to give birth because of the loss of pierre. was that b/c the disease was hereditary and the sister did have some idea of pierre's sickness? if not, why did the sister refure to have her own children?

[–] blackat16 16 years ago

The question of why no one figured out what was wrong with the kid after his death bothered me as well. Apparently whatever she gave him to kill him showed up more obviously at autopsy than the disease that would have killed him eventually. Or the investigation was cut short when she confessed to killing him. It's a small suspension of disbelief to make for such a great movie.

As for Lea, I think it was pretty clear that she didn't have a clue that Pierre was sick until she found the test printout and confronted Juliette. She didn't want to have children biologically because she wasn't given all the information. All she knew was that her good, beloved, smart, doctor of an older sister gave birth and then killed her son. She wasn't given any closure. So when she got older, she still wanted kids, but she tried to distance herself from her Juliette's circumstances in any way she could, to avoid whatever it had been that made Juliette kill her son.

[–] lbrown106 16 years ago

Yes, I've just watched this film on DVD for the first time. I am left wondering about this too. When Juliette learns from Lea that both she and her husband were capable of having children, Lea says "I didn't want to give birth" Juliette replies "It's because of me". The women take this no further, which is frustrating because I'm sure Lea was screaming inwardly "What do you mean?"

I enjoyed the film overall, the pace, the laudible acting but was disappointed by the ending redeemed, however, by Juliette's realisation that "Je suis la".

[–] twelvepointnine 13 years ago

Is it a test printout? I though it was the "recipe" for the euthanasia med she made to relieve her child?

Chaos reigns

[–] oopsminded 16 years ago

how could no one know about this boy's illness?

It's cause she ate the boy after the illness was revealed. Also, the sister didn't want to give bearth, because she was afraid she'd eat her own tummy during pregnancy. I loved this movie, canibals are cool.

[–] filmbuff87 16 years ago

so stupid... but yet i laughed.

[–] [email protected] (1358) 4 years ago

lame

[–] bole79 16 years ago

Lea loved her sister, admired her, "I so wanted to look like you when I was little", so I think what her sister was convicted for traumatized Lea.

[–] aquaerik 16 years ago

Nobody said they did not know the boy was sick, I am sure the husband and others knew but still did not agree with killing the boy. Lea was very young at the time and not around her sister or the child during the last few months/year he was sick.

[–] xcollbabyx 14 years ago

I'm sorry, but it was made rather clear that the entire reason why everyone judged her and disowned her was because they had NOT been aware that the boy was sick. Juliette admitted that she noticed his symptoms early (with her own personal medical knowledge) and then conducted the tests herself in the lab to confirm it. She did not inform anyone of the boy's illness, that's the entire reason why she's been so private, so absent, so alone, so imprisoned, and so disowned. Everyone was under the impression that she killed her son "for no reason".

"Your face looks like Robin Williams' knuckles."

[–] jtrichey13 13 years ago

I'm sorry, but it was made rather clear that the entire reason why everyone judged her and disowned her was because they had NOT been aware that the boy was sick.

I'm sorry, but it was not made rather clear. The only clear thing was that Lea did not know the child was sick. It is not clear if Juliette's husband or parents knew or didn't know, only that they thought the decision was wrong. I think it is likely that at least the husband knew the truth, and probably others. Like Juliette said though, "It didn't matter either way, I killed him and I wanted to go to prison"

Downwards is the only way forwards.

[–] jtrichey13 13 years ago

Oh, and the writing was definitely lab results, not a euthanasia recipe. We only get a brief glance, but the first thing written was Leukocytes. I think the boy probably had leukemia.

Downwards is the only way forwards.

[–] xcollbabyx 13 years ago

You can think it likely that the father/husband was aware, but if anything this is left up to viewer interpretation. I personally find it perplexing that if an effort was made to conceal the sickness from her sister, why would it be presumed that others had in fact been informed? If considered in reality, once Juliette went to prison, a conversation then may have occurred between her husband and her sister regarding the circumstances wherein the husband, if he had known, would have likely made it a point to inform her sister. What harm would have been done in sharing this information with her sister IF Juliette had shared it with others, like her own husband? That's why I feel it was clear that Juliette's actions were completely secret out of love for her child.

"Your face looks like Robin Williams' knuckles."

[–] poserpro 12 years ago

When a woman whose sister killed her son and she has no clue why her sis did it and it happened when she was very young, it creates kinda psychological block or fear to have her own kid(s), adopting is the alternative choice to her and her husband since both agreed. Even a thorough autopsy would not change the fact she kidnapped and killed his own son, not any good reason could justify her crime from the laws, not to mention she admitted the crime on purpose to enter the prison to redeem herself from the pain.

For Lea, maybe after she knew the fact of the truth why her sis did it, some years later, she and her husband would like to have their own kid cause the psychological burden is gone, just like her sister who is open to new life.

(a double answer to other post)

[–] Yinky 12 years ago

I thought she didn't want to have her own children because she thought her own child might inherit the "murderer gene."

[–] jules5bh 12 years ago

When she was recounting what had happened, I'm pretty sure she said 'by that point, he could hardly move' or similar? Which would mean it was obvious to all around that he was ill? Even if they knew he was ill, what she did was still illegal despite the fact she did it to save his pain and suffering.