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Villa Amalia tells the story of woman named Ann who decides to change her life completely when she witnesses Thomas, her husband of 15 years, embracing another woman. This French film was crafted by acclaimed director Benoît Jacquot, and stars the immensely talented Isabelle Hupert as the lead role of Ann, with acting support by Xavier Beauvois as Thomas and Jean-Hugues Anglade as Georges.
While the film was crafted to an intensely rich calibre and entirely well reflexive of the many things that make French films so distinct from cinema in other parts of the world, it could be lost upon viewers who are not familiar or comfortable with this style of film making. For a movie that is so full of sudden setting changes and splices, there doesn't seem to be much action in the plot. Much of the film is very quiet and stoic as it goes on. Ann discovers her husband is having an affair, she abruptly decides to abandon everything in her life and travel across Europe. It is during this time she finds a villa off the Italian coast, known as Villa Amalia. She decides to purchase this isolated home and make her life there.
The idea of this woman being empowered and bringing forth a new lifestyle change is not very uplifting though, as much of the quiet film was quite a lot to take in emotionally. You are witnessing as someone's relationship has fallen apart and how they chose to deal with it. With that being said, it is definitely not a movie suited for a date night with your girlfriends!
Overall, if you can appreciate French cinema and are prepared to watch a very intense film, then this could be good for you. However, if you're looking for something a bit more positive and uplifting, I'd have to advise you to steer clear. Of course, to give credit where credit is due, the actors enlisted all brought forth strong dramatic performances. Hupert herself seemed as though she was made to play the leading role of Ann. To add to this, Jacquot put together a very beautifully crafted film, but despite all of these things, it still wasn't enough to create a positive cinema experience for this viewer.
You be the judge, though! Villa Amalia is now playing in select theatres nationwide.
Written by Valerie Haberman
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