Isabelle's story - La faute à Fidel! (2006) Discussion

[–] dan-2328 17 years ago

I just saw it. Your question and some others appear to me to be dropped plot points. I wonder if there were scenes that were cut for time or because they weren't really Anna's story. Too bad, because it does confuse the background story. But for me while a minor bother, it really doesn't make a dent in the overall insight of this wonderful film.

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[–] eustatic 16 years ago

Her story has just been left ambiguous: did she get an abortion? it's not the point, what is the point is that the pressures put upon her to bear children were very distressing--she didn't feel like she had a choice. Thus her advice to anna to "find a little spot of your own."

from what we are shown, she may have had an abortion, she may have not (she didn't that one time, although the mother/feminist house wanted her to get one or wanted to help her get one). The older feminist lady advises the ma that the book will help isabelle and young women, and that the book is what she needs to work on, not just isabelle.

so, isabelle is mainly a foil for other developments (the book, anna's eavesdropping on her mom's interviews), rather than a forgotten character.

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[–] Rita314 17 years ago

The movie starts with her wedding and that's when we meet her. Then, later, wee see her crying because she needed to do an abortion and it's really difficult for her; I think. And I don't remember anything more about her.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] TC Fenstermaker 15 years ago

On the DVD there's a cut scene showing the grandmother, mother, and child all in a tea room discussing Isabelle. It leaves one with the impression that her marriage had gone south--the grandmother at one point scoffs, "she's a child, she thought she'd marry Prince Charming." She also then mentions, "she lost the baby, by the way," which indicates she didn't go thru with the abortion, but then had a miscarriage.

Leaving in this scene would have really made more sense of the Isabelle thread, but the director cut it because, she says, she didn't think we, the audience, cared anymore about the mother's backstory and home life.

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[–] dynamoproductions 14 years ago

No way, she TOLD the grandmother she lost the baby.
thanks for the insight on the marriage. i was wondering.
i came on here to find out about Isabelle, The director was wrong, obviously.

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[–] TC Fenstermaker 14 years ago

Oh, are you saying she did have the abortion, but then simply told her mother (the grandmother) that she'd lost it in a miscarriage? That's possible. It's been a while since I saw the movie so I don't remember exactly, but I thought Isabelle had stormed out of the women's shelter before having the abortion, which is what led me to believe she didn't go thru with it.

I do wonder why the director bothered at all with the Isabelle thread if she just decided, somewhat arbitrarily IMHO, that having this one last scene wrap up that storyline somehow killed the pacing and thus cut it.
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[–] jayjayjoop 11 years ago

I got the impression her husband was abusive or something. But I was confused too....was Isabelle married to Marie's brother? Marie called her "sister-in-law"....of course that was the English subtitle so could be wrong.