Kristin Scott Thomas‘s performance in Philippe Claudel‘s I’ve Loved You So Long (Sony Classics, 10.22) is “going to be one of the nominated Best Actress performances,” says a friend who just saw it today. “It will definitely appeal to the actors….very powerful acting…Thomas is not afraid to make herself look unglamorous…it’s just a small French drama but it’s very, very good.”

Thomas plays a 40ish woman who’s recently gotten out of the slammer for a major crime. Elsa Zylberstein is also superb, he says, as Scott-Thomas’s sister.
The tipster allowed that his enthusiasm for I’ve Loved You So Long may be due in part to “the Mummy effect” — a feeling of being deluged by big-studio crap that makes a viewer especially receptive to anything that works in a modest non-CG, non-idiotic way. Word around the campfire is that Claudel’s film is a likely Telluride Film Festival entree. Sony Pictures Classics chief Michael Barker has been telling viewers that Thomas is “this year’s Julie Christie performance.”
I’ve Loved You So Long hasn’t played any festivals yet. It was seen in market screenings during last May’s Cannes festival. The French title is Il y a longtemps que je t’aime.