AvionPrince16 Review of Simone: Woman of the Century

Simone: Woman of the Century (2022)

A faithful biopic but a little too contemplative and pretentious?

[6/10 · 27 November 2022]

I generally liked the film and the representation of Simone Weil's life, but what bothered me was the structure: I find that we go from adolescence to adulthood a little too quickly and their transitions hurt a little. The head (hardly had we been able to digest the events on the one hand than we moved on to something else: the story seemed rather fragmented and we were going a little against our will and that gave some headaches between the events of his youth that we must remember and the same thing for the transition to adulthood. I also found it unpleasant the fact that Simone Weil enjoys a status: many times we saw her strutting about different celebrities she would have met: I have nothing against that but it seemed futile and I would have preferred a staging or something that would have shown us his celebrity but we have the right instead of a friend who is a little vulgar and envious of a celebrity: too bad. Otherwise the film tells us the v ie of Simone Weil through her various fights: (abortion and its legalization, the rights of women and their emancipation, the injustice done to women but also to male and female prisoners. But also her various dramas that she lived (the death of her brother and her father, the concentration camps - I find this passage a little too long for my taste. We also learn about her school career: the fact that she wanted to work and become independent despite her husband. She became a magistrate, which was quite rare at the time for a woman. There are also misogynistic remarks and the degradation of women and their so-called household role. There is also mention of a woman who would have inspired Weil. We also have a message addressed to the future and to young people. I find the film interesting despite everything, but its structure rather bothered me and the fact that we dwell on the events of Auschwitz seemed to me to be irrelevant because we learn nothing more on Simone Weil but more on a historical event. The step also at the age of child reveals the beliefs of her parents and her ecosystem being younger even if it remains superficial. We also have the significant events of her career and I find that the fact that they insert the fact that she writes her memoirs was rather classical. I don't know if she really wrote her memoirs or not. I don't know either if the film was faithful to the events of his life or did they take some liberties? I couldn't really say because I only know her fights (abortion, abortion) so on that side I can only follow without really knowing if it's really faithful.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed the performance of the actress who plays Simone Weil. I find her convincing as well as the character who embodies her as a teenager. The film takes a few off-topics (concentration camps) but remains pleasant despite a structure that makes you dizzy. Interesting all the same and those who wish to know more about Simone Weil will be served.