Based loosely off of actual events, Andre Techine's In The Name Of My Daughter is centered around the Le Roux family, owners of a long standing casino on the French coast. Headed up by Renee Le Roux, the casino has fallen on hard times, struggling to keep its doors open amongst the competition from Fratoni, a rival casino owner with alleged mob ties. Fresh out of a failed marriage, Agnes, the daughter of Renee, has come home, but her interest couldnt be farther away from the family business. Determined to make it own her own, Agnès opens a bookstore while simultaneously striking up a relationship with Maurice, Renee's personal council and lawyer for the casino. What begins as a seemingly innocent romance quickly deteriorates, when it becomes apparent that Maurice interest in Agnes is about more than meets the eye. Andre Techine's In The Name Of My Daughter is a impressive relationship drama masquerading as a murder mystery. This isn't a film interested in the true life mystery itself but instead the film focuses on drawing rich characterizations of it's three main characters, attempting to understand their emotions and desires. Agnès is a woman whose death is still unknown and Techine doesn't want to jump to conclusions himself with this film, instead providing a poignant portrait of the slowly deteriorating emotional stability of Agnes. None of the characters are demonized but Techine reveals the inherent selfishness in all three individuals, with both Maurice and Renee giving money precedent over their relationship with Agnes. Renee is a character so wrapped up in saving her business that she fails to see her daughters emotional fragility which indirectly leads to her disappearance. Maurice true intentions are vague but the film does offer glimpses of empathy, unwilling to broadly statr him as rhe man responsible for Agnes disappearance. While one may argue that In The Name Of My Daughter is anticlimactic, I'd argue the ambiguity is essential, with Techine's film being very much about the twisted mix of money and relationships.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|