Mi Iubita Mon Amour | |
Director: | Noémie Merlant |
Cinematography: | Evgenia Alexandrova |
Editing: | Sanabel Cherqaoui |
Production Companies: | Nord-Ouest Films |
Distributor: | Tandem Films |
Runtime: | 95 minutes |
Country: | France |
Language: | French |
Gross: | $39,790[1] |
Mi Iubita Mon Amour (Romanian and French for "my beloved") is a 2021 French romantic drama film directed by, co-written by, and starring Noémie Merlant.
Jeanne is a fiancée on a bachelorette trip with friends in Romania. After their car gets stolen, they are taken in by the family of Nino, a Romani 17-year-old who finds a connection with Jeanne and joins them on their way to the beach.
Covaci's real-life family played his character's family.
Mi Iubita Mon Amour was Noémie Merlant's feature film directorial debut.[2] The film came about on the "spur of the moment" during a visit to Romania by Merlant, Gimi-Nicolae Covaci, and other cast members—Merlant's close friends—in the summer of 2020.[3] [4] It was co-written by Merlant and Covaci, who had previously appeared in Merlant's short film Shakira (2019). A small crew worked on the low-budget shoot over two weeks.[3] [4] [5] Merlant said that the script "left room" for improvisation.[5]
Mi Iubita Mon Amour premiered on 13 July 2021 in Special Screenings at the Cannes Film Festival.[6]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57% based on seven reviews.[7] The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw described the film's dialogue scenes as "very watchable", but thought the ending was unsatisfying.[8] A critic for Screen Daily credited the film for its "sure-footed handling of tangled emotional issues",[9] though an IndieWire editor found Merlant "unwilling to grapple with the uncomfortable questions her story asks" regarding the relationship of Nino and Jeanne.[10]