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Both Sides of the Blade

Both Sides of the Blade (Avec amour et acharnement)

Movie · 2022 · 7 people

Claire Denis directed the 2022 French romantic drama Both Sides of the Blade, whose original title Avec amour et acharnement translates as "With Love and Fury". The script, which she co-wrote with Christine Angot, adapts Angot's own 2018 novel Un tournant de la vie. Produced by Curiosa Films, the French-language film runs about 117 minutes. It premiered on 12 February 2022 at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear and Denis won the Silver Bear for Best Director. It was earlier known in English as Fire.

Sara and Jean have lived together for years, their desire undimmed and their trust unconditional. Their life changes when François enters it: he is Sara's former lover and former flatmate, whom she left years ago for Jean. Juliette Binoche plays Sara, Vincent Lindon is Jean and Grégoire Colin is François, with Bulle Ogier as Nelly. Mati Diop, Issa Perica and Hana Magimel also appear.

The film reached French cinemas at the end of August 2022 and Turkish cinemas, distributed by Başka Sinema and titled Bıçağın İki Yüzü, on 2 September 2022.

DirectorClaire Denis
Production companyCuriosa Films
Both Sides of the Blade (Avec amour et acharnement) Both Sides of the Blade (Avec amour et acharnement)

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Grégoire Colin Grégoire Colin Film actor · 51 years old Vincent Lindon Vincent Lindon Actor · 67 years old Juliette Binoche Mati Diop Bulle Ogier Issa Perica Hana Magimel

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Adapting Christine Angot's novel together with Angot herself, Claire Denis turns a love triangle into a story stretched, as the original title promises, between love and fury. The Silver Bear for Best Director in Berlin rewards that directorial discipline. Casting Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon as a long-established couple and setting Grégoire Colin against them as the former lover places much of the film's weight on the actors' shoulders. My reservation: the return of an old lover is one of cinema's most worked-over situations, and the film may not always manage to draw something unexpected from that familiar setup. Admirers of Denis's more enigmatic work may find a more conventional drama here.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film questions the apparent solidity of a long relationship and how fragile it can turn out to be. A relationship Sara ended years ago knocking at the door again works as a test, a reminder that the past never fully closes. Coming from a woman novelist's book and a woman director's hands, it invites us to read desire and indecision through the female character's eyes. Yet rather than painting a broad social picture, it closes in on the trust between two or three people; anyone looking for a portrait of an era's gender relations may find the frame narrow.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

A relationship drama aimed entirely at adults, about a former lover entering the life of a couple who have lived together for years. It deals with desire, loyalty and trust, so it is not one to watch with children. Teenagers may not find much in it either. It is the kind of film a couple watches on their own and talks about afterwards.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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