Imagine getting all your exes into a room to talk about your past romances.  What would they say? Do they remember the same moments as you, or in the same way? This is what director Chloé Barreau explores in her documentary Fragments of a Life Loved. 

Since she was 16 years old Barreau has kept every memento from every relationship.  Photographs, letters (a lot of this happens the 1990’s after all), trinkets.  She’s also filmed each of her loves – men and women, from first love to first committed relationship.  She’s filmed even when they’ve asked her not to.  Then, to chart her story, she turns the camera away from herself, having a neutral third party interview each former partner.  They reveal their feelings, their impressions of Barreau, even the lies that she told.  

All of this could have felt tonally self serving if it wasn’t framed in a way that isn’t just about the filmmaker herself but the bigger underlying picture.  While each subjects reminisces of their time with Barreau, we never hear a rebuttal, only her captured memories on camcorder and film.  Evidence of a life and its past relationships.  The subjects tell their side of the story from first meeting, the evolution of love, how the relationship ended.  But how accurate are her subject’s memories?  How do we remember our past?

Fragments of a Life Loved is a bold, brave vision that stimulates its audience to ask those questions of themselves. How do those that loved you perceive you? Does time really heal, or does it just alter our memories to dull the heartache?  This film is a fascinating study of the way we remember and how our past relationships inform our current selves.  It’s a personal history told completely from outside perspective, a fearless piece of filmmaking.