Film Review: LA PLACE D’UNE AUTRE: An Excellent, Well Acted Story of Mistaken Identity [Locarno 2021]

La Place d’une autre Review

La Place d’une autre (2021) Film Review from the 74th Annual Locarno Film Festival, a film directed by Aurelia Georges, and starring Lyna Khoudri, Sabine Azema, Maud Wyler, Laurent Poitrenaux, Jacques Bachelier, Amelie Belohradsky, Agnes Bourgeois, Olivier Broche, Bruno Dreyfurst, Sarah Gendrot-Krauss, Jacques Bruckmann, Marie Hattermann, Naton Goetz, and Didier Brice.

The new French film, La Place d’une autre (Secret Name) is a mesmerizing story of mistaken identity that makes the viewer question how far one would go to achieve security (whether it be emotional or financial). The movie casts the excellent Lyna Khoudri and the superb Sabine Azema in performances that are, without a doubt, award-worthy and the picture features a plot that will hold the audience’s attention from opening to close.

This film is set in France in 1914 as World War I is going on. Lyna Khoudri stars as Nelie, a poor woman who is fired from her job as a servant at a wealthy home when we first meet her. She ends up homeless and prostituting herself to make ends meet. One day, she is recruited by the Red Cross to become a nurse. She basically has no choice so she signs up. While on duty, she meets a woman named Rose Juillet (Maud Wyler). Eventually, some chaos ensues and Rose is presumed dead but not before giving Nelie some information on the plans she had. Nelie decides to assume the identity of Rose in order to become a reading companion for the wealthy Madame de Lengwil (Sabine Azema). Rose and Madame de Lengwil have never met so it seems like the perfect opportunity for Nelie.

There is a definite bond/connection between Nelie (AKA Rose) and Madame de Lengwil when they meet. For a while, Nelie has, perhaps, the best life has to offer (including friendship and security) until the plot thickens and the real Rose shows up to claim her position as the reader for the well-to-do Madame de Lengwil. Of course, all involved believe the real Rose to be a fraud and Nelie is confronted with the decision to either reveal her true identity and be shamed or stick to her story and maintain her secure situation. The real Rose ends up institutionalized with Madame de Lengwil believing that Nelie is truly Rose. To her, the less personable Rose seems to be the guilty one and she sticks by her belief that Nelie is actually Rose.

There’s so much going on in this film. On one hand, we have the story line’s time setting which is during the beginning of World War I. On the other hand, we have a highly personal story about the bond between a rich woman and her reader which is truly touching. Then, there is the matter of the real Rose who is torn between the life she is meant to have and the denial of living that life which is unacceptable to her. It’s a fascinating premise and the film’s direction by Aurelia Georges is always probing.

The cast of the film is simply amazing. Lyna Khoudri comes into stardom with her fierce, relatable turn. Anyone who has ever lived a life of poverty or come close to living one will truly sympathize with her predicament and we always wonder which way her character will turn next. Sabine Azema is a dream come true in a layered performance full of complexity as her character is forced to confront the possibility that her new friend is actually deceiving her. Maud Wyler has the difficult role of the real Rose who we both sympathize with and (occasionally) despise, simultaneously. The real Rose wants to pull the rug right out from under Nelie’s new life in the name of justice but what is truly just in this situation? The movie makes us examine our own morals to find the answer. In support, Laurent Poitrenaux is top notch as his character also questions the validity of Nelie’s claim that she is Rose.

There are many things that are extraordinary about this film from the pacing to the cinematography to the acting. Perhaps the best thing the film does is sneakily suggest that this story could have a happy ending. The audience knows it cannot but the movie tries to hint that there could be a silver lining at the film’s ambiguous conclusion. Perhaps, as sometimes happens in life, there is a silver lining to be found here. It’s the audience’s job to find it. Whether or not you find it depends on your own moral compass. This is truly a great film.

Rating: 10/10

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