With writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda once again returning to TIFF with The Truth (La vérité) we get a film that shows us what it might have been like if Yasujiro Ozu had gotten a chance to play in the streets of Paris while still being true to his own personal storytelling style.
Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) is a star of French cinema. When she publishes her memoirs, her daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) returns from New York to Paris with her husband (Ethan Hawke) and young child. The reunion between mother and daughter will quickly turn to confrontation: truths will be told, accounts settled and confessions made.
While still within his familiar wheelhouse, Kore-eda allows himself a certain degree of whimsy and attitude as he truly morphs and embraces his Parisenne surroundings in the film. It has a lush feel to it all as the sun pours into the house where the bulk of the movie takes place but never once undercuts the very French sense of deliciousness with its attitude.
Deneuve and Binoche are spectacular and in this film about relationships and our relationship to the memory of them they both allow us to see that nothing is truly as it seems.
The ultimate magic of where this film truly lies is in the genuine gusto that he puts on screen, particularly with Deneuve as the fading star needing to find peace with passing on her legacy. That’s where The Truth truly lies, and Kore-eda makes it a glorious thing to witness.
David Voigt is a Toronto based writer with a problem and a passion for the moving image and all things cinema. Having moved from production to the critical side of the aisle for well over 15 years now at outlets like Examiner.com, Criticize This, Dork Shelf (Now That Shelf), and to.Night Newspaper.
He’s been all across the continent; serving on the FIPRESCI Jury at the Festival Du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal, covering festivals out side of Toronto like Calgary Underground Film Festival, CUFF Docs, Slamdance, Fantasia, SXSW, DOC NYC, Santa Barbara Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival and many others
However, In the uncertain world of modern film journalism, David also knew that he needed to have a hand in writing and cementing his own contributions on the global film scene.
Having eclipsed the 10 year anniversary of his own outlet, In The Seats, where he’s been striving to support film (and TV) from all walks of life and his podcast “In The Seats With…” where after 5 & ½ years and over 750 episodes he’s talked with a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, behind the scenes artisans and so much more on the art of storytelling for the screen, which is spawning the launch of a new show in the Spring of 2026. “ITS: Soundtracks” will focus on the use of soundtrack and score in film which he believes is a combination that is the cinematic equivalent of Peanut Butter and Chocolate.
All this as well as hosting and moderating a variety of big screen events around the city, covering film in all its forms is just a way of life for him.
