2000s drama film crime film thriller film

Read My Lips

Lee mis labios

2001 · France · 115 min

Director: Jacques Audiard
Screenplay: Jacques Audiard, Tonino Benacquista
Producer: Jean-Louis Livi, Philippe Carcassonne
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography: Mathieu Vadepied
Editing: Juliette Welfling
Production company: Canal+, Pathé, France 2 Cinéma

Awards: · 5 nominations

What the critics say

97 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews82 Metacritic /100

Cast

Vincent Cassel

Emmanuelle Devos

Bernard Alane

Olivier Gourmet

Olivia Bonamy

Bô Gaultier de Kermoal

Chloé Mons

Christiane Cohendy

Céline Samie

David Saracino

François Loriquet

Isabelle Caubère

Laurent Valo

Olivier Perrier

Pierre Diot

Patrick Steltzer

What it is about

Carla is a nearly deaf secretary at a construction firm in Paris, where her coworkers mock her without realizing she struggles to hear. Worn down and undervalued, she accepts her boss's offer to hire an assistant and chooses Paul, an ex-convict fresh out of prison who lacks the formal qualifications for the job. A bond of trust develops between them, shaking up Carla's routine and pushing her toward increasingly risky choices in a story that blends drama, suspense and the atmosphere of the underworld.

How it was made

Jacques Audiard co-wrote the screenplay with Tonino Benacquista, and the film was shot in Paris and its working-class neighborhoods, moving between cold offices and nighttime settings. Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos play the leads, with a score by Alexandre Desplat. Carla's skill at lip-reading becomes central to the plot. Mathieu Vadepied handled cinematography and Juliette Welfling edited, aiming to convey the protagonist's loneliness and isolation.

Reception and legacy

The film took the Best Actress prize at the 2002 César Awards for Emmanuelle Devos, and the screenplay by Audiard and Benacquista and the sound work by Cyril Holtz and Pascal Villard were also awarded. At the Newport Film Festival, Devos and Audiard won the prizes for Best Actress and Best Director. It also earned European Film Awards nominations, including Best Actress and Best Screenwriter.