VISION
Theatrical release: September 6, 2023
Duration: 2h03
Director: Yann Gozlan
Main actors: Diane Kruger, Mathieu Kassovitz, Marta Nieto
Synopsis: A confirmed airline pilot, Estelle leads, between two long-haul flights, a perfect life with Guillaume, her husband. One day in an airport corridor, she crosses paths with Ana, a woman with whom she had a passionate affair twenty years earlier. Estelle is far from imagining that this reunion will lead her into a nightmarish spiral.
After pleasantly surprising us in his Triller Black Box , Yann Gozlan returns to us with a new film against the backdrop of a toxic relationship.
Visions takes us into a relationship between three people, including Ana who returns to Estelle's life twenty years after their separation. Very real nightmares will follow, thus destabilizing the normally self-confident pilot.
To be honest, when I saw the trailer and the title of the film, I thought that this was the new production of the company that had produced The cloud and which will be released soon Acide. Because the theme of visions is not often mentioned in modern French cinema, except that in addition, there was a scent of fantasy.
At the beginning of the film everything seems ideal for this couple living in the south of France, in a luxurious house. But very quickly, this life will be turned upside down by someone Estelle never thought she would see again in her life.
Just like Estelle, the viewer will be more and more perplexed and confused throughout the film, mixing scenes of fiction and reality. Estelle will be the first to be surprised to see how her nightmares become a tangible reality. The editing of the film imbues us with her thoughts and puts us in the same confusion as the main character, without us really knowing if this is happening inside her, whether it is due to a vision or even the result of fantasized fears.
Matthieu Kassovitz plays a man who tries to dissuade Estelle that this relationship will bring nothing good. His character loves his wife and is protective of her. For as long as they have known each other, he has been thinking that it might be time to have a child together. Guillaume will not change his position and will protect his wife as best he can throughout the film. Mr. Kassovitz's acting is diverse and shows another side of him in the nightmare scenes, without knowing if he could really be like that in real conditions. A very good role for Mr. Kassovitz who had already demonstrated his acting talents to us in the legends office.
As for Diane Kruger, we don't present it anymore. Multiple times nominated for popular films like Troy, the tiger brigade or Inglorious Bastards, this established actress of German origin plays here a character disturbed by her visions, gradually sinking into paranoia and despair. A character who, at the beginning, exercises diligently to stay in shape, and is very perseverant in her professional life.
In two respects Visions is similar to Black Box:
First of all, in terms of aeronautics. Both films feature characters working for civil aviation. In Boite Noire, he is the actor Pierre Niney who plays an agent tasked with investigating a plane crash. Here it's Diane Kruger as an air pilot. Yann Gozlan has a fascination with the world of aviation. He shows that he masters the subject from start to finish, whether visually or technically. All the plans presented in Visions on Airplanes are made so that we see grandeur and majesty.
Then, in terms of music or more particularly sound noises. In Boite Noire, it is the sound transcriptions recorded by the box of the plane which are scrutinized by the agent of the BEA. In Visions, two scenes in particular aroused my curiosity: While Estelle listens to a voice message made entirely of sounds, she manages to locate the interlocutor during the voice recording. Two situations with the same goal in two different films.
As for the last scene of the film, it completes the loop with the beginning of the film giving an air of fantasy, which will leave the viewer expectant.
In summary, Yann Gozlan succeeds in imposing an oppressive atmosphere, with the establishment of a toxic and destructive relationship, while putting us in the psyche of the main character. This tour de force, I have only been able to see it once until today, it was in The Father, which deals with Alzheimer's disease.
