All Is Forgiven

Viktor lives in Vienna, calls himself a poet, does not write, and uses. His wife Annette and their small daughter Pamela orbit him, and when the family moves to Paris it gets worse. The first half is the collapse, then the film jumps eleven years: Pamela is a teenager and learns her father is still alive. In her first feature Mia Hansen-Løve already has the method that will become her signature, with no big scenes, time skipped quietly, and forgiveness arriving as a meeting rather than a conversation. The camera does not judge any of it. Addiction here is not a set piece but the weather inside a family. Who it is for: viewers who like French family drama and films that narrate time through ellipsis. Who it is not for: anyone wanting an emotional peak, since even the strongest moment passes in silence.