If you're coming into The Truth expecting a Hirokazu Kore-eda-style drama, you'll be disappointed.
As with the Japanese filmmaker's work Like Father, Like Son and Shoplifters – the latter of which won the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival – Kore-eda is still exploring the more grating and fragile aspects of family relationships in his latest outing.
In his other films, Kore-eda has unflinchingly worked to put up a great, greasy humanist mirror for us to examine ourselves under an uncomfortable light.
Yet that's not the case with The Truth, which was released online on Tuesday, April 29, by Front Row Entertainment. Here, Kore-eda goes easy on us, hitting us less powerfully than we know he can. But that's not to say the film fails to live up to his past works. Its subtle impact and momentum are simply different than what we've come to expect from him.
Set in France, The Truth is Kore-eda's first film outside of Japan.
It was an interesting move from the director, as he not only stepped outside of his comfort zone, but he did so with a French-speaking film, and with a star-studded cast featuring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche and Ethan Hawke.
Despite its star power, however, it will take about 20 minutes for viewers to acclimate to the film's momentum.
Not because it is going at breakneck speed, but because it'll take a little time to get a feel of the film's rhythm and its steady yet unhurried pace. Once you're used to that, it becomes much more of an enjoyable watch. You'll find yourself inextricably tangled in this odd, messy but calm family drama, and it becomes clear that Kore-eda has managed to get some truly memorable performances out of its cast.
And as impeccable as all the performances are, it is Deneuve who wins the spotlight.
The French actress, who has been in more than 130 films in the last six decades, is right at home in her role as the larger-than-life movie diva Fabienne Dangeville. (Interesting aside: Fabienne is Deneuve’s middle name.)
The Truth explores the fraught relationship Dangeville has with her daughter, Lumir (Binoche).
Lumir, her husband (Hawke) and their daughter (Clementine Grenier) come to visit Dangeville after the 70-year-old actress publishes her memoir, titled La Verite (The Truth).
However, Lumir soon finds out that her mother has stretched and reshaped the truth in her book, and confronts her for being a self-absorbed and largely absent parent.
“My memories, my book,” Dangeville says nonchalantly when her daughter challenges her with its contents.
The film is layered with stories. In the backdrop of the mother-daughter relationship is the mysterious figure of Sarah Mondavan, a deceased actress who was Dangeville’s contemporary and from whom Dangeville stole an important, career-building role.
There is also the science-fiction film that Dangeville is in the midst of filming, entitled Memories of My Mother. It is about a mother who doesn't age, and her daughter, who soon becomes older than her, which stands as a reflection to Dangeville's own relationship with her offspring. And finally there's a fairy tale that Lumir reads to her daughter about a witch with a stone-cold heart, which also harks back to the main storyline, with Dangeville being compared to the witch who turned her husband into a turtle.
If you're looking for a unhurried comedy-drama to watch on an early Friday afternoon with some truly exceptional acting, then The Truth certainly fits the bill
The Truth is categorised as a drama, but to pigeonhole it in this genre would do a disservice to the film. Yes, it is a slow-burner with a restrained plot line, but it is also dappled in wit, with some scenes that will make you genuinely laugh out loud. Dangeville's acerbic humour will catch you off guard, cutting through some of the most tense moments of the story. The scenes she shares with her wild-haired ex-husband, who shows up to her house unannounced, are especially enjoyable to watch.
Don't expect to be sitting at the edge of your seat, though. Rather, if you're looking for a unhurried comedy-drama to watch on an early Friday afternoon with some truly exceptional acting and a plot you won't have to chase with a hooked finger, then The Truth certainly fits the bill.
The Truth is available to buy and rent on iTunes, Google Play, beIN On Demand, OSN Store as well as all local platforms including Du, Etisalat E-Vision, Ooredoo, Vodafone, and OmanTel
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
Torino v Juventus (8pm)
Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Mountain%20Boy
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh359,000
On sale: now
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
RESULTS
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group One (PA) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner RB Money To Burn, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner Ekhtiyaar, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
9.25pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group Two (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Kimbear, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
10pm Dubai Trophy Conditions (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Platinum Star, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
10.35pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Key Victory, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
