2002, France
Drama, Romance, TV
It is hard to come home again, especially if you are arriving in a different body than the one in which you left.
In director Jérôme Foulon's film, Léa fights her inner demons when a business trip forces her to revisit her Parisian home. Not only must she thwart off the advances of an eager coworker, but curiosity finds her stalking her own family from another lifetime -- that of when she was their father, Nicolas.
Nathalie Mann convincingly portrays a post-operative transsexual. Her angular face with its high cheek bones and low brow allow for a believable turn as a feminine man who has discovered his inner woman. Her voice is not startling but settles into lower octaves when reuniting with someone who knew her as a man.
Before Felicity Huffman portrayed a pre-operative transsexual in Transamerica, Foulon tackled the subject via French TV. The result is an impressive production that easily transfers to the big screen. Writer Jackye Fryszman delves into the effects of a family left behind when the husband and father feels the need to completely escape a past in which his physical body no longer fits. In Nicolas' attempt to save them pain and confusion, he faked his own death and failed to consider the full consequences of such anguish when his own inner turmoil took precedence.
Nicolas returns ten years later as Léa to find his wife with a new man, his mother in a nursing home, his daughter stressed about living up to her family's musical talent and his son who holds no connection to him. Despite the chaos she creates in the process, Léa wishes to build a new life from the ruins.
If the pronoun usage was not confusing enough (his ex-wife, Anne, and her boyfriend battle over whether to refer to Nicolas/Léa as his previous male self or current female self), Anne understandably struggles with the idea of Léa always being a part of Nicolas, despite a happy marriage. Part of the anxiety over seeing him as a woman is that upon reflection it is not such a difficult transition to fathom.
Foulon presents a film that is thoughtful with each relationship and does not provide unrealistically simple solutions. There are no lectures concerning the transsexual lifestyle, yet it is handled with respect. The film is worthy of discussion and Mann has provided the topic with a sympathetic face.