Filmmaker François Ozon (8 Women, Swimming Pool, Under the Sand) has never shied away from storylines or themes that have the capacity to make us uncomfortable with our own thoughts, and for good reason. By working in the realm of dis-ease, Ozon forces us to wonder how we would react in certain circumstances or to being confronted with certain choices. That quality makes his films instantly and undeniably engaging, because it makes his audiences activate their minds and take their thoughts to places they rarely go. And I can’t think of a subject matter that better suits Ozon’s sensibility in this regard more than the assisted suicide of one’s own parent.
An official selection of last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Everything Went Fine begins as a fairly familiar, but no less engaging, family drama about 85-year-old André (André Dussollier), who has suffered a stroke that has paralyzed half his body, asking his eldest daughter Emmanuèle (Sophie Marceau) to help him die with dignity. What makes the scenario all the more compelling is that it is based on the memoir of the late Emmanuèle Bernheim, Ozon’s frequent writing partner and the person mostly responsible for Ozon’s path into the realm of facing the unfaceable. Emmanuèle (of the film) clearly resents her father for putting her in this position, especially since she says on more than one occasion that he was a terrible father (we see examples of this in brief flashbacks). But she also acknowledges that she and her sister Pascale (Géraldine Pailhas) can’t refuse him, even at his cruelest.
When at first they refuse, he pouts, throws fits, goes silent, moans in agony and is generally impossible to deal with, but when they finally agree, he perks up, revealing that all of that was a performance. An art dealer for most of his life, André was also a terrible husband, marrying Claude de Soria (Charlotte Rampling), the girls’ mother, but never making any secret about the fact that he was gay and had countless affairs with men before and during their marriage. Rampling’s appearance here is essentially a cameo, but her bitterness about their relationship permeates the entire film. But when asked why she married him knowing he was gay, she simply says, “Because I loved him.”
Everything Went Fine has a methodical and casual approach to how it unspools. Yes, emotions are high, but Ozon isn’t looking for big, explosive moments to underscore how significant and sad these events are for most of those involved. When there is yelling (such as when a recent lover of André’s, nicknamed “Shithead” by the daughters, storms into the hospital demanding to be seen), it feels out of place compared to everyone else in André’s life.
Since assisted suicide is illegal in France, Emmanuèle contacts a facility in Bern, Switzerland, where she is walked through the process by an angel of a retired doctor (the legendary Hanna Schygulla), who brings a sensitivity and understanding to the situation that few others do during the course of the story. A part of Emmanuèle believes at some point her father will back out. When he asks to delay the trip to Switzerland by a few weeks so he can see his grandson’s music recital, she takes that as a sign that he’s reconsidering, but it turns out to be wishful thinking on her part.
Ironically, André’s telling too many people what he’s doing (the daughters and his lawyer implore him not to tell anyone) almost gets the entire proceeding shut down before it even begins. He’s a difficult man who wants to say everything that pops into his head, even if it’s hurtful or gets him into trouble, and in this film, we see a great deal of both. Ozon clearly doesn’t feel the need to stray too far from the facts of his former collaborator’s story, but he does include fragments of dreams and memories that add depth to our understanding of the complex relationship André has had with his children and everyone else who cares for him.
Everything Went Fine is a character study about difficult relationships that even death can’t completely repair. It’s clear that whenever her father shows her any kindness, it means something to Emmanuèle. She knows it’s wrong and that shouldn’t be the case, but it is. The lead performances here are note perfect and they lean into the fact that these are flawed characters working through an impossible set of circumstances with as much compassion and intelligence as they can muster. And the film isn’t all misery; there’s quite a bit of humor peppered throughout to help make the painful decisions go down easier. It’s a remarkable work that I hope people are able to find and aren’t scared away by the subject matter.
Everything Went Fine is now in theaters.
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