Poetic Realist

“For people like me it is both the shipwreck and the life raft. We float in the virtual. Now we’re the spider, now were the gnat”.

 

Who You Think I Am is a provocative and prescient drama that weaves the story of a middle-aged woman’s longing for passion and desire with a thriller of mistaken identity.

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On the surface, Who You Think I Am might be interpreted as a revenge thriller.  However, there are several layers to this film which make it more than simply the revenge of a wronged women. It is a sober portrait of a searing personal betrayal that leads a hurt and insecure woman down a path of action that leads to disastrous consequences. Nebouu confronts a modern sense of isolation that exists in society and how we use social media to construct an identity for ourselves, blurring the line between fiction and reality. Through a mesmerising performance by Juliette Binoche, Nebouu deftly conveys the complexities of an insecure woman whose attempts to recapture her youth lead to tragedy. 

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This is director Safy Nebouu’s sixth feature film, which he adapted from Camille Lauren’s 2016 novel ‘Celle que vous croyez’.  Juliette Binoche plays Claire, a French professor in her mid-fifties, divorced with two sons. We’re introduced to her during a meeting with a psychiatrist where she speaks of how “it excited me. That’s when the spiral started.”  From here begins a series of flashbacks that reveal how she got to this point. The flashbacks start with Claire’s relationship with a younger man named Ludo (Guillame Gouix), who shows no desire to spend more time together, leaving Claire hurt and insecure.  When she calls him, she speaks to his friend Alex who denies knowing who she is.  Angry at being rejected by Ludo, Claire then decides to befriend Alex (François Civili). She sets up a Facebook account posing as a 24-year-old Clara Attunes and seduces him by liking his photography posts. What began as something to soothe her hurt, leads to a more intimate connection which takes over her life. As Alex becomes more impatient to meet her, Clare panics as she does not wish to reveal her identity. This deception has disastrous consequences for which she tries to atone. 

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The generation gap between Clare and Alex is highlighted in comedic moments, which also serve to underline Claire’s desperation at the thought of losing Alex.  For example, when Alex asks her if she has ‘insta’, she has to google it and there is a scene where she circles the car park while her children are waiting, as she tries to get a dependent Alex off the phone. This shows how her relationship is the priority in her life, to the detriment of her sons- whom she ignores whenever he calls. 

 

 

There are three narrative lines in this film: Claire in the present speaking to her doctor, flashbacks to her relationship with Alex, and a fictional rewrite of events by Clare herself. Who You Think I Am is an example of the unreliable narrator: a device which has been used in films such as Shutter Island, Gone Girl, and Fight Club. In Who you think I am, the plot unfolds through flashbacks and the conversations between Claire and Dr Borman’s.  It becomes apparent that Claire is not only withholding the truth to Dr Borman’s, but Claire herself is also unaware of a vital piece of truth about Alex. Claire does not reveal until the end of the film that the pictures she has been using for her Facebook persona are actually those of her niece, who -it turns out- had an affair with her husband. The source of Claire’s guilt is Alex’s suicide, which she believes she caused.  In a gripping twist at the end of the film, Dr Borman’s visits her ex- boyfriend Ludo, who informs her that Alex is in fact alive.  

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When Claire reveals that her husband and her niece had the affair, one can empathise with Claire and see the motive for her behaviour and underlying loneliness. However, critics have argued that this reduces the film to the simple trope of the vengeful woman. It also emphasises Claire as the tragic figure, as this accomplished woman has unravelled in the pursuit of passion and intimacy.  In the convention of the unreliable narrator, the director does lay clues to the truth. Claire is evidently an accomplished professor who has written several books and in the film, we see her creating a persona on Facebook and writing a manuscript.  We find out that her husband is now with a younger woman. In other words, the clues are there, yet the twists revealed at the end are shocking.  Throughout the film, the line between reality and fiction overlaps throughout the film, and one reality masks another. This makes the film truly compelling.

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During her sessions with Dr Borman’s, Clare shows her a new manuscript she has just completed, which turns out to be an altered version of what happened. At this point, we have a film within a film. The manuscript starts at the point in the film where Claire was supposed to meet Alex at Montparnasse Station, which was the moment they were supposed to meet in ‘reality’. In the manuscript version, Claire presents an idealised version of herself, as she initiates the relationship with Alex and is bright and confident with “nothing to hide”.  In her fictional version of events, she orchestrates a meeting between Clara and Alex to see if he responds. While he is at her house, he discovers the truth of what Claire has done. As he confronts her at a café, she walks backwards into the road and is killed by a car.  

This ‘film- within a film’ and unreliable narrator technique reminds me of Joe Wright’s Atonement. In Atonement, Briony misinterprets events and pieces of information which can be attributed to the naivety and petty jealousy of a child. Her accusations have consequences for several characters in the film, most of all, Robbie, and Cecilia.  Later in the film, we see Briony visiting her sister Cecilia and Robbie, who is on leave from the army. She tries to make amends for what she did as a child, but it is too late. At the end of the film, an elderly Briony, now a successful author, is being interviewed about her final novel which is based on her life.  When discussing the book, she reveals that Cecilia and Robbie never did reunite as both died before they could meet again. She tells the interviewer that “in the book I wanted to give Robbie and Cecilia what they lost out on in life...a final act of kindness. I gave them their happiness.” Through the character of Briony, Atonement explores the idea of unknowingly causing destruction, misinterpreting events- and the knowledge that you have to live with the guilt of what you have perpetrated.  Briony appears to have given Cecilia and Robbie a happy ending in the novel to atone for her actions. This can be compared to Claire in Who You think I Am, who uses her manuscript to atone for the supposed suicide of Alex, by killing her character in the book. The doctor notices Claire’s need to punish herself- even in her fictional account ;  “in reality, why not imagine a happy end? even in an imaginary world, you’re denying yourself happiness as if you wanted to hurt yourself over and over” .  Both Atonement and Who You Think I Am explore the nature of storytelling itself and the tenuous line that separates truth and fiction. This method invites the audience or the reader to ascertain what they believe to be the truth. 

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Another example of a ‘film-within-a-film’ is French Lieutenant’s Woman, directed by Karel Reisz. French Lieutenant’s Woman depicts the story of a man torn between two women in the Victorian period, and the lives of the two actors playing these characters in the present. The novel that the film is based on has multiple endings and is an example of ‘metafiction’. The novel is what can be described as ‘self-reflexive’ as the author wanted to examine and critique the fiction of the Victorian period and create a feminist female protagonist. Metafiction draws attention to its own form, which reminds the reader that they are reading a fictional work. This is designed to explore the relationship between literature, reality, and art. Through its formal self-exploration, metafiction they become the device that explores the question of how human beings construct their experience in the world.  This is evident also in the film version of the novel and in my opinion can be attributed to Who You Think I Am.  In Who You Think I Am, the film-within- a film, the manuscript version of Claire’s truth provokes the audience to consider Claire’s decisions and the consequences of her actions.  The focus of this film is the construction of identity through social media. By lying to Alex, she has created disaster for Alex and herself and she is ultimately a tragic character. 

 

The tragedy of Claire’s character lies in her insecurity and fear of rejection and a desire to recapture her youth. 

On the one hand, one could argue that her character demonstrates hubris , that is arrogance and pride, she also adheres to Hamartia- which is defined as a fatal flaw, which in this case would be hear desire for love and need for revenge.  Nemesis- the goddess of retribution- also applies here.  

This leads to her manipulation to get what she wants.  The moment she finds out about Alex’s death is what causes her to change.  Claire’s tragedy is that having been betrayed, she wants to feel passion again and in doing so recapture her youth. Unfortunately, she is unable to show her true self to Alex, and so seduced him under a false identity. It’s her consequences that lead to his supposed suicide and her breakdown and sense of guilt. 

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Nebouu has said in an interview regarding Binoche “I think she was also intrigued by some of the idea from the films story, especially the tragedy of the character she plays”. 

Claire falls within the definition of Aristotelian tragedy because it is her inner compulsions which lead to her moment of self-knowledge.  One of the four types of tragedy that Aristotle defined in his Poetics was ‘Complex’ which includes a turning point in which the character becomes aware of their situation.  Whilst she does have a startling moment of self-knowledge, she does not change her behaviour. In the final scene, after learning that that Alex is in fact alive, she speaks to Dr Borman’s about moving on and second chances.  When the doctor leaves, we see Claire on her phone and the ringing sound. Are we to conclude that Claire is in fact trying to speak to Alex again? The tragedy here is that she is unable to learn from her mistakes and moreover-, must feel desperately alone. It’s as if she is addicted to Alex and can’t shake the habit, which is interesting because it could be argued that social media is an addiction of some kind. In fact, in interview, Nebouu said that he had spoken to psychiatrists about the new set of neuroses that result from social media. 

 

Claire’s reversal of fortune does evoke pity. Is she still a bad character though or is she to be pitied? I found myself conflicted. In Arthur Miller’s Tragedy and the Common Man’, he argues for a modern definition of tragedy and heroes. His idea was to “make ordinary people heroic” which is evident in his plays.  In this film, one could see Claire as woman whose life includes betrayal, desperation, desire and longing. It is similar to David Lean’s Brief Encounter which showed an ordinary middle class housewife who experiences passion and torment.  Miller proposed that hamartia could be ‘redefined in modern terms as the hero’s inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity and rightful status in society.’ Therefore, the flaw is not found within the hero, but society. This is how  tragedy is defined in modern social realist drama. In this case, Claire would therefore be a victim of society. Her fall comes from her challenging the status quo which is further emphasized in her lectures when she explores the female literary characters who have challenged societal norms. The wrong is therefore not in Claire’s character but society.

 

For Nebouu, this film was a case of art imitating life as he was a victim of social media himself. 

“I fell into the trap of a person who was not who she pretended to be…I used real-life events to give the films story a special dimension. It was about a slightly older woman posing as a younger one, as in this film.  So in the script of the film I used the text messages I received from that person as well as the passion I had while waiting for that person to call me again. I was researching my own psychological state”.

 

This film raises compelling moral and ethical questions about the place of social media in our society.  Who You think I am is one of a handful of films that has examined the power of social media and how it permeates the many aspects our lives.  This is demonstrated by Claire’s assertion that “we float in the virtual”. The use of the word ‘float’ here is particularly interesting. Floating suggests something impermanent and signifies a dream-like state, not grounded in reality.  Whilst social media allows us to interact with countless numbers of people, these connections are usually superficial.   For Claire, the connection with Alex is comforting, thrilling and a lifeline for her.  She speaks of the “little green light indicating the other is online, that he’s also there, in front of his screen”.    Nebouu employs the echoing sound of the Facebook message throughout the film as a musical motif to signify the connection to Alex.  This echoing sound is woven into the haunting and melancholic beautiful piano, scored by Ibrahim Maalouf.

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The main theme of this film and a theme that Nebouu explores in all his films is identity. He has spoken of how his mixed race background led him to filmmaking and he discovers himself through making films.  This film demonstrates the role social media plays in constructing identity.  Claire asserts “when someone dies, what do we do with their virtual identity? Delete it? What choices do we have?” Isolated and insecure, Clare reaches out for connection, but believes she can only attract Alex by pretending to be younger. In reality, one cannot recapture their youth, but with social media, Claire can.  Nebouu demonstrates the impact of social media on Claire’s life in the most drastic of ways.   What is gripping about this film is that the audience wonders when Claire’s mask will slip, revealing her true identity. This is illustrated in conversations with her doctor when she talks about the first steps of creating a persona and seducing Alex: “a single mistake of language and the magic could all be lost”. Instead of simply being caught, Nebouuu instead focuses on the causes of such behaviour which makes this film compelling. An audience might condemn Claire’s manipulation of Alex initially, but Nebouu is depicting modern society where we use social media platforms to manipulate our identity. This film explores a modern sense of isolation.  Ironically, in a world where it is possible to connect to more people than ever, many are isolated and lonely.  Nebouu explores the ethics of how we are using social media to manufacture a perfect version of our lives, project a false identity and manipulate. In this case, this leads to disastrous consequences for Claire.   

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There is a scene in which Claire stands on the train and watches young girls, of Clara’s age, who are all looking at their mobile phones. Does Claire imagine herself as Clara at this point, trying to become her persona? Social media plays upon that very human desire to be loved or simply liked. As Willy Loman places importance of personality to get ahead says “he’s liked- but not well liked”. Nebouu has compared social media to filmmaking: “we become directors of our own lives. You decide how to present yourself, which images you share and so on. It is like putting your own life in a script”. 

The theme of identity and self is evident in the establishing shot of Claire’s face underwater in the bath.  This could be demonstrating Claire as she really is, without her persona. It is also symbolic of Claire’s state of mind, as if she is merely floating, trying to stay afloat.  The score then introduces water droplets, that fall slowly which establishes an ominous and melancholic tone. 

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The feeling of contemporary isolation permeates the film. Nebouu and cinematographer Gilles Port have photographed the film in cool blues and greys.  The flat Claire lives in is a high-rise modern flat with large glass window’s, in a modern neighborhood of Paris. Many scenes are framed in a way that show Claire to be alone.  In the scene in which Ludo tells Claire that Alex has taken his own life, the camera pulls back, and the audience sees Claire stood inside a glass pod in the Pompidou Centre. This makes Claire look small and isolated as if events have gotten out of her control. She is left contemplating what she has done.  

 

“social networks have changed the lives of many people, and this will continue to happen in the future. We communicate through them, they are rooted in our lives, sometimes in a playful and cheerful way, sometime in a sad way… …it’s like putting your own life in a script there can be confusion because the persona you’ve chosen to show  can be you- but perhaps not quite like you”.

 

Behind the genre conventions of a thriller, this film deftly demonstrates the current hypocrisies and standards that women must navigate within society. The films exploration of a middle-aged woman acting out her fantasies is rather unique in current filmmaking. It reminded me of the female protagonists in Jane Campion’s films. In Campions films, the female characters are living in a time where women are trapped by convention and the only means of expression is through creativity. They also identify their sexuality and pursue their fantasies.  In Who you think I am, Claire too is acting out her desires, but she has achieved this by mistaken identity and deception.  Claire’s relationship with Alex - although based on a false identity- awakens her sexuality and need for intimacy.  As she tells Doctor Borman’s, “I’m a passionate person. I want to be desired”. Claire’s relationship with Alex transforms her, she becomes radiant and confident and is able libertate herself from dwelling on her ex-husband.   “I’d never felt so alive. I wasn’t pretending to be 24…I was 24”.  This perhaps is Claire’s fatal flaw- trying to recapture her youth. In reality you cannot do this, but in social media this is possible.  She is too afraid to reveal her identity to Alex for fear of being rejected.  As Nebouu has said in an interview “she makes up stories to reinvent her youth. It is touching to watch her believe she is Clara and can be Clara”.

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Claire takes voyeuristic pleasure in being ‘Clara’ because this persona liberates her.  For instance, she tells Dr Borman’s “I let myself go. I felt more like Clara than Claire”. This reminds me of Oscar Wilde when he wrote “Man is at least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth”. This is particularly evident in a scene where she sends Alex a video of ‘Clara’ pole- dancing. Claire appeals to almost revel in the voyeuristic pleasure.  She recreates the young woman’s dancing as if she is capturing the exuberance of her youth and beauty. Notably, when Dr Borman’s asks “you wanted to live her life?” Claire retorts: “not another one, mine at last.”  This underlines Claire’s loneliness and the underlying thread of this film- yes, she is manipulating under false identity- but she is doing this to satisfy the very real desire for love and intimacy. Her love affair with Alex allows her to live once again, not merely exist.  

 

Nebouu has stated that he was inspired by watching Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and the influences are apparent. In both films, men are seduced and deceived by women with a false identity. Underappreciated at the time, Vertigo is ahead of its time as it explores issues of identity and virtual reality, and the line between fantasy and reality. I find Vertigo an unsettling film as it has an eerie, ghoulish quality. Perhaps this is related to its exploration of voyeurism an obsession.  Indeed, in order to resurrect Madeleine, Scottie more or less transfers her consciousness onto Judy, something similar to virtual reality. As Hitchcock recalled in an interview with Francois Truffaut, he was attracted by the idea of a man “creating one woman in the image of a dead woman”. Identity is a central theme of Hitchcock’s films.  He depicts his character’ struggles to re-establish themselves when they often have an unstable sense of self.  In Vertigo, Scottie struggles with his perception of reality after a breakdown, and Judy is herself embodying two separate personas. This resonates in Who Do You think I am- which illustrates how in the age of technology, we might choose fantasy and escapism over the reality of  human relationships. It can be argued that Hitchcock was equating relationships between men and women to the art of filmmaking. Indeed, the way Scottie tries to recreate Madeleine and build his fantasy, is similar to Hitchcock creating the so-called Hitchock blonde.  Scottie seems most upset that she has been playing a role for him “ did he train you?” he shouts at her. Both women create personas which are used to deceive and seduce men, similar to the femme-fatale in film-noirs. Both women are punished for their actions and are both ‘fallen women’. Judy suffers the same fate as Madeleine when she too is pushed off the belltower.  

Whereas Claire is afraid to reveal her true identity, Judy wants Scottie to love her for herself. Because she loves him, she allows him to dress her up as Madeleine.  This is very disconcerting as it highlights how Judy is willing to change herself for Scottie to love her, highlighting how desperate she is for validation. Scotty however is only interested in a dead woman. Judy is a victim of powerful men who use her to enact their desires.  

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Juliette Binoche is elegant and radiant in her performance as Claire.  She oozes sensuality and is the star of Nebouu’s frame. The camera delights in her face and gestures. She is able to depict insecurity, hurt, anxiety, determination. In this film she takes up the mantle of the dangerous woman- the femme fatale. It is noteworthy to look at other performances where she has played the so-called ‘dangerous’ woman. In Louis Malle’s  Damage, she has an affair with her fiancé’s father which inadvertently leads to her fiancé’s death.  When it comes to conveying complexity, Binoche is sublime.  Her films show the risk shes willing to take. That is clear throughout this film.  Nebouu ‘I think Juliette Binoche immediately saw herself in that role, that is, she saw that she could play several people at the same time”. 

 

The double standards that surround women’s sexuality is demonstrated in a scene where Claire is at a dinner party with her friends and a conversation ensues about her new relationship with a younger lover: 

Husband:  “are you a cougar?”

His wife says “we say cougar for a woman, but what’s the word for men?”

Husband “man”

Claire “men have always been with younger women and its no big deal. It’s not comparable..its not on the same level”

 

It is fascinating that although Claire is an independent, accomplished, and beautiful woman, she is judged by who she falls in love with. There remains a discomfort surrounding women who are in relationships with younger partners, yet there is a grudging acceptance of older men who are with younger women. Despite her protestations at this kind of attitude, Clare falls prey to the expectations of a society that desires youth and beauty.  Although she has fallen for Alex, she is unable to reveal her true self to him for fear he will not want to be with an older woman.  During a discussion with Dr Boorman’ Claire reveals her insecurities; “he wouldn’t want me at this age” which is particularly disconcerting considering she is a beautiful and educated woman.   She reveals her wish to be loved for their mind as well as their looks. She says “he like my words, how my mind works. That’s really me”. She realises in creating the persona, though she thought it was what he’d want, she betrayed herself as she never allowed Alex to see her true self “I didn’t give myself a chance to exist in his eyes”.  Who You think I am illustrates the invisibility that Clare feels “It’s a pleasure I’ve never wanted to give up. I like being looked at, being pretty. Don’t you?” 

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Claire is also dealing with her age and mortality in these conversations with her Doctor.  Dr Borman’s believes that in placing emphasis on beauty and recapturing youth she is avoiding reality: “It all appears as if your refusing reality. It is social media that allowed her to be young again. As if you’re fleeing the truth. The desire for eternity. The illusion of eternal youth. We all want to distance ourselves form the prospect of death.” But the truth is revealed in the end of the film that her husband left her for her niece, and so it’s natural that she would place an importance on youth. Of course, when we are hurt, we look for anything that will help us. Notably, Claire says “I needed to be taken care of, to be soothed even with delusions.” This reminds me of Woody Allen’s quote “one must have delusions to live”. In Claire’s case however, her delusions continue to lead her down a destructive path as she can not let go of Alex. 

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Simone de Beauvoir, the celebrated French author wrote about women in old age, a topic she thought had been neglected.  In Old Age and The Coming of Age, she wrote that a woman’s “erotic attractiveness and fertility which, in the view of society and in her own, provide the justification for her existence.” She furthermore depicted ageing as the deprivation of femininity and value for women, describing this process as ‘une mutilation’. She wrote “long before the eventual mutilation, woman is haunted by the horror of growing old”. Whilst the choice of the word ‘mutilation’ might seem brutal, it is indicative of her belief that women were excluded from the domain of public life and are viewed as ‘other’ in society. Beauvoir was writing in the inter-war years before the women’s movement. Yet, the fight for equality remains and women are still very much judged by appearance.  

 

 

One of the more intriguing plot devices that Nebouu employs is the scenes showing Claire giving her French Lectures. They serve as indicators about character throughout the film and underline the wider theme of the place of women in society. She expounds on the French writer Marguerite Durras the female French writer. The excerpt that she read to her class is indicative of Claire’s attempt to recapture her youth or failure to deal with the ageing process. “very quickly in my life it was too late…I do remember hearing about that thirst of time that strikes as were passing though the youngest and most celebrated ages of life.”  The reference to Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos des Laclos is the most pertinent reference. There is a parallel between the novel and this film as the plot is about the Marquise de Merteuil who was dropped by her younger lover and then sets out to manipulate through seduction and revenge. Later in the film she paraphrases Baudelaire’s opinion of the Marquise as not only a superior manipulator but “her rebellion as a woman, her rebellion against a hypocritical society. Very young, Merteuil resolved to create a unique self”. Claire also references the character of Nora in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. In the play, Nora is trapped in a woman trapped by the conventions of her time. She is the wife and mother who is suddenly awakened to her situation. She says “the emancipation of a woman outside the role defined for her by society and how, more than a century later, we still relate to her refusal to conform. To subject herself to the norms in which they imprison us”.  A Doll’s House explores the importance of women’s appearance in society and appearance vs reality. 

The above literary works explore women who have rebelled against the social norms expected of their sex.  This suggests to the audience that this is how Claire sees herself. However, Claire does not have the courage to reveal her true identity and is hampered by the idea that Alex couldn’t possibly love her for who she is. She obviously feels the desperation to scramble from the ruins of her marriage and betrayal in order to feel desired again. Though it touches these issues it does not go far enough. However, it is Binoche who breathes psychological and emotional complexity into the character.  She portrays with sensitivity and complexity of woman her age dealing with the desperation and insecurity of her circumstances.