Le lait de la tendresse humaine (2001)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Dominique Cabrera

Writers:

Dominique Cabrera (writer)
Gilles Marchand (writer)

Release Date:

19 September 2001 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A woman, scared by motherhood and her new born baby, runs away from her home and family to find a shelter at her upstairs neighbor's place. |

Plot Keywords:

Jura

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Patrick Bruel	...	Laurent
Marilyne Canto	...	Christelle
Bruno Salvador	...	Rémi
Antoine Bonnaire	...	Cédric
Nour Gana	...	Cendrine
Dominique Blanc	...	Claire
Sergi López	...	Serge
Claude Brasseur	...	Jean-Claude
Mathilde Seigner	...	Josiane
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi	...	Josiane
Léna Breban	...	Sonia
Yolande Moreau	...	Babette
Olivier Gourmet	...	Dr. Gérard Cafarelli
Edmée Doroszlai	...	Véronique
Jacques Boudet	...	Jean-François

Also Known As:

The Milk of Human Kindness (International: English title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:MA (cable rating) | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Canal+

Deeply humanistic portrayal of the power of empathy

This compelling film concerns the specific plight of a woman experiencing an excruciating episode of post partum depression, one that causes her to abandon her family and flirt with a complete breakdown. The author of the film has used this event to depict with stunning depth and understanding the underlying impulses, needs and desires of a whole range of characters, most particularly, a female neighbor of the depressed woman who takes her into her home and offers her unconditional support. The layers of insight run quite deep, taking the moviegoer into the lives of adults and children, into relationships between married couples, lovers (adulterous and otherwise), parents and children, friends and neighbors. There's a quality of empathy that the filmmaker clearly feels that she manages to convey on film. The camera never shies from dynamic close-ups of some very expressive faces. The acting is uniformly superb, creating characters that are real in an everyday sense without the slightest concession to glamour. The script is filled with small moments that ring absolutely true and that often resonate beyond the particulars of the film's plot. As a man, and a city dweller, who readily perceives the limits of my obligations to strangers in need, I had my consciousness raised as to just what the potential of unconditional empathy might be.