Originally titled "L'Envol" (or, Flight), the more ravishingly named (for English audiences) Scarlet is a sweeping, romantic story of the passage of time, a young woman's coming of age and the way relationships change as people do. Directed by Pietro Marcello (who adapted the novella by Aleksandr Grin with Maurizio Braucci, Maud Ameline and the collaboration of Geneviève Brisac), Raphaël Thiéry stars as Raphaël, a soldier returned to his farm in rural France from the frontlines of World War I only to find that his wife has died and left him an infant daughter, Juliette (played later by Juliette Jouan). Already struggling to return to everyday life, now he has to manage raising a young girl without a wife.
But Raphaël isn't totally alone, as it truly takes this French village to protect and rear young Juliette, including Adeline (Noémie Lvovsky), the live-in matronly figure who counsels Raphaël when he needs it and looks out for young Juliette's best interests.
The most magical trick in this fable-like film is the passage of time, as we watch Juliette grow up from an infant to a toddler, from a toddler to a child, and from a child to a young woman with a romantic's heart and a prophecy about her future that fuels her daydreams. Yearning for love, it falls into her life by way of a pilot, Jean (the great Louis Garrel) who stumbles into the village and steals her heart. Through it all, her father works hard to support their small family as a woodworker, taking odd jobs and commissions as he can garner them.
Marcello is an Italian filmmaker, and his previous film, Martin Eden, established him as a contemporary filmmaker with a classical style, evocative of auteurs decades his senior. Setting his latest effort in France proves a chance for the filmmaker to stretch his skills in a new language and culture while maintaining his signature style; watching Scarlet feels as if one's been transported through time—and not just because the story takes place a century ago.
Through all the changes, all the conflict and struggles, at the heart of the film is the moving relationship between a father and daughter, each learning as they go how to relate to the other. Raphaël is a strong and proud man, but he's determined to make a life for him and his daughter, and seeing him practice his craft—and the joy he gets out of fashioning wood into sculpture—is a joy in his otherwise hard life. At every stage of her young life, Juliette adores her father and only wants what's best for him, going so far as to ask others to hire him for his workmanship—because he needs the work and she knows he'll be able to deliver. But it's their relationship with each other that anchors this dreamy, delightful gem, as it's evident in each of their interactions that the other is the most important person in the world.
Scarlet is now playing at Music Box Theatre.
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