At the Movies: Tout est pardonne (All is Forgiven)

Today Helen and I ventured into San Francisco to watch Tout est pardonne (All is Forgiven), which is  enjoying its West Coast premiere as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. 

Aside from watching a powerful film, an ancillary benefit of the day was the opportunuty to explore the Pacific Heights neighborhood of SF.  Since we're in Berkeley most of the time, we're only slowly getting a handle on the quilt pieces that comprise the City by the Bay.  Someday we'll have it all figured out, even if takes a while.

In the meantime I can offer this brief report on All is Forgiven: It's about a heroin addict named Victor, who becomes awful to his wife Annette once he the throes of his addiction.  Eventually Annette cuts off contact between Victor and their young daughter Pamela, a terrible fate that estranges Victor from his daughter for 11 years.  Eventually father and daughter reunite during her teenage years.  They form a deep connection, because--in the long run--all is forgiven.

Rest assured that I'm not giving away too much. This is definitely a film to watch, both for its visual acuity and a sense of compassion that never lapses into maudlin posturing.

We all know people who never fully pull themselves together, and we all have traits that seem intractable no matter how much they can hurt those we love.  Few things are truly intractable, but change is hard.  So large measures of compassion are needed, for ourselves and for each other. 

All is Forgiven makes this case gracefully.  Afterwards, screenwriter and director Mia Hansen-Love answered audience questions. At one point she mentioned her initial impression of the "luminousness" and "darkness" within the presence of the actor who plays Victor (Paul Blain). We all have both impulses, and we all have the power to make sure that luminousness prevails in the end.