Written and directed by Yann Richebourg, ‘L’amour est temps de reflets’ or ‘Love is time of reflections’ is a romance short film that stars Anthyme Huygue and Emmy Besnier.

A poem-movie with voice over in French, ‘L’amour est temps de reflets’ showcases a tumultuous relationship between a young girl and a young man in a reflective capacity as it seeks to understand the bounds of love hampered by deadlock.

What ‘L’amour est temps de reflets’ manages to do is capture moments of love really well. From intimate and up and close moments to moments of reflection by one of the leads, the film’s power lies in capturing instances that people seldom pay attention to and yet it is these instances that mean the most in love. From what the hands say when people are in love to blank stares that yearn to find meaning, the beauty of this film lies in the fact it is able to say so much without having even a single line of dialogue.

Equally beautiful is the poem that underwrites it all. A completely original text written by Yann Richebourg, the poem captures the complexity of love in all its effortless glory. Describing pain and hope, intensity and coldness concurrently; the poem lays bare the complex of every modern relationship. Love is messy, complicated but also unlike any other thing.

In the acting department, the duo of Anthyme Huygue and Emmy Besnier is fantastic. It is always tricky to convey emotions without the use of dialogue but both the actors manage to do a fantastic job here. Not only do they convey the nuances of the writing with ease, there is also an effortless and genuine emotion to them both. We absolutely feel that both of them are in love and yet, their love is disintegrating. Like a scream in a vacuum that goes nowhere, so do their feelings for each other – the ordeal is disheartening but also very real.

The only spoken word in the entire film is the voiceover which is a poem. Since this is a poem- film hybrid, the decision to forgo dialogues work very well. Each stanza of the poem works its magic upon the visuals, helping convey a deep sense of meaning and wonder. At the same time, the words of the poem linger on in the mind; there is something about them that hits deep and hits hard.

‘Love is time of reflections’ is thus a potent work of art, one that will move you in unexpected ways. Yann Richebourg has made a beautiful poignant ode to the frailty of love, one that needs to be experienced to be appreciated. With the film already garnering so many accolades and so much critical acclaim, its journey into the awards season is already guaranteed. Yann Richebourg is thus a fantastic talent and we cannot wait to see what he ends up doing next. We give the film five stars out of five.