Julie Keeps Quiet (12A) |Close-Up Film Review
Dir: Leonardo Van Dijl, Belgium 2024, 100 mins.
Cast: Tessa Van den Broeck, Laurent Caron, Ruth Becquart, Pierre Gervais
In French, German, Dutch with English subtitles
Review by Carlie Newman
Reminding me of one of Michael Haneke’s films where you follow what is happening and think that you are seeing everything taking place but somehow miss some of the targets. Here we see Julie practicing in silence and even hitting a nonexistent ball. Then when Jeremy is suspended and questioning takes place, she decides not to speak about her relationship with her coach. Has Jeremy been abusive to her? Was he abusive to Aline, the star student who killed herself? Even after the Q & A with the director/writer Van Dijl I am unable to answer all questions that arise in the film.
The star of the film is Tessa Van den Broeck, who is an actual tennis player and makes her acting debut in this movie. She is superb as the 15-year-old tennis prodigy. There are a couple of lovely scenes with Julie and her dog. I was impressed and asked the director if the girl and the dog were in a real relationship! He said yes, and you could see it in the joy on the actress’s face as they played together. Julie could only really be herself with her undemanding dog.
The ending is equally enigmatic. Go see and form your own idea!
