Last night I watched this brilliant movie for the third time. I can't actually get enough of Ms. Kristin Scott Thomas' performance in this movie. She performs as a rich and complex character in this film. Cinema fans know her from her outstanding performance in "The English Patient (1996)" for which she was nominated as the best leading actress in Academy Awards. 12 years after that performance, in 2008, she beautifully played the role of a woman, better to say a human, who came out of the jail and struggled to be accepted in the society as well as in her own family. It's not just that, the movie has some sense of mystery and little by little the story behind Juliette's, Kristin Scott Thomas', actions and behaviours unfolds itself. She has her own weaknesses, strengths, fears and sorrows. Artfully, Philippe Claudel, the director shows every little details of her changing moods and emotions. I highly recommend this movie for anyone who loves to see a good French movie with some magnificent acting.

Any Led Zeppelin fans out there? Either way, I wanted to start by drawing attention to the confusing translation of this film's title into English. The French phrase "Il y a longtemps que..." is better translated as "It's been a long time since..." It implies a sense of nostalgia and possible regret or loss. So instead of being called "I've Loved You So Long", it should've probably been "It's Been a Long Time Since I Loved You". Even that translation is imperfect, so you may just have to listen to the Zeppelin song to get what I mean.Why is this important? Because the entire film is done with a haunting sense of nostalgia, regret & melancholy as the proper title should imply. But also, as the title should imply, it's not necessarily depressing or final. I thought the film pulls it off brilliantly. The subject is very dark & gloomy, yet the film doesn't descend to being dark & gloomy itself. Instead, like a good murder mystery, it allows us to peel away at the dark truth while not getting dragged down ourselves. This is done by keeping us out of the main character's troubled past until the very end. As a result, we don't form prejudices that would taint our objectivity.And that's what this film is about: society's prejudices. Not in a overt way, but with subtlety the way director Clint Eastwood likes to do ("The Unforgiven", "Gran Turino", "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil"). Films like this challenge us to see 'villains' in a different light, and they expose society's folly in labeling them thus.In this film, Kristin Scott Thomas plays a woman who, for cloaked reasons, is discarded by society. Her unwillingness to explain herself only deepens the disconnect. The motives for her bizarre behaviour remain a mystery until the end, forcing our imagination to remain on high alert throughout the entire film. Without any car chases, gunfire or monsters, this film still manages to create a great atmosphere of suspense & anticipation. In that regard it's similar to "Five Minutes of Heaven" (2009), "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995) or the obscure Japanese flick "Shiki-jitsu" (2000), all excellent films that derive their suspense from slowly peeling away the psychology of a troubled character.Kristin's performance is simply amazing. It would be easy for an actor to play the role as a victim, a depressed person feeling sorry for herself, but no. Kristin plays it with an air of strength and quiet, desperate dignity. And in the end we realize that's exactly how it should be. Don't miss the chance to see this great film!

I've seen so many French films in the last 15 years in which the female protagonist is as hard as nails, rebellious but impenetrable, scornful of intimate society or society at large - and we're meant to like her. I feared the same from the simple description I had of this film. (And after all, Scott-Thomas does not, after all, seem to seek out cuddly characters).But her character is played perfectly - and that woman is one you come to quite like - sympathetic and understandable and human. (The actress playing her sister is also perfectly chosen- as sweet and winning as you could possibly find).For all the darkness off-screen before the film begins, this is really a happy and heart-warming film - stay with it, it gets better and better. I particularly love the happiness the director makes us feel in social groupings - the celebration of someone's birthday, friends just dropping in, a dinner party.**** SPOILERS### My one misgving with the film is that I do NOT share the director's apparent sympathy with euthanasia - no illness ever justifies taking another's life. Were I the judge sentencing her, and knowing all the facts, I'd have sentenced her to at least 15 years, and thought myself being very just. So her failure to defend herself in prison does not seem to me to have influenced her just sentence - though is strongly sense the movie means one to think otherwise - to feel that slaying a terribly ill child is somehow OK.*** SPOILERS END **** I'd strongly recommend the film.

After fifteen years in prison for murdering her son Pierre, the former medical doctor Juliette Fontaine (Kristin Scott Thomas) travels to Lorraine to live on probation with her younger sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) and her family. The bitter, introspective and reclusive Juliette has spent her sentence without any visitor and totally forgotten by her family and now she has problem to interact with her brother-in-law Luc (Serge Hazanavicius) and her nieces. She has to visit every other week her probation officer Captain Fauré (Frédéric Pierrot) and seeks a job position to rebuild her life. As days go by, Juliette gets closer to the family of her sister and befriends Luc and Léa's friends, specially Lea's colleague Michel (Lauren Grevill). She slowly changes her behavior until the day Léa discovers the truth about the death of Pierre."Il y a Longtemps Que Je t'Aime" is touching, heartbreaking, sensitive and one of the best dramas I have recently seen. The outstanding performance of Kristin Scott Thomas deserved at least a nomination to the Oscar if this award were serious and this is a good example why I do not watch the Oscar ceremony anymore. The screenplay and debut in the direction of Philippe Claudel is awesome, slowly unfolding the leading character Juliette Fontaine and keeping the interest along the narrative. The also excellent Elsa Zylberstein has top-notch performance and really resembles Kristin Scott Thomas, giving credibility to the role of sister. I have really loved this magnificent film. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Há Tanto Tempo Que Te Amo" ("For So Long I Have Loved You")