About Joan
About Joan is a 2022 drama film directed by Laurent Larivière. The film stars Isabelle Huppert, Lars Eidinger and Swann Arlaud. It is a French-German-Irish co-production.
The film had its world premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on 15 February 2022. On this occasion, Huppert received the Honorary Golden Bear for her entire career.
Plot
Joan Verra is an independent, loving woman with a free and adventurous spirit. When her first love returns without warning after years of absence, she decides not to tell him that they had a son together. This lie by omission is an opportunity for her to revisit her life: her youth in Ireland, her professional success, her loves and her relationship with her son. A seemingly fulfilled life, but one which hides a secret that she will have to face.Cast
- Isabelle Huppert as Joan Verra
- * Freya Mavor as Joan Verra, in the 1970s
- Lars Eidinger as Tim Ardenne
- Swann Arlaud as Nathan Verra
- * Louis Broust as Nathan Verra, in the 1980s
- * Dimitri Doré as Nathan Verra, in the 1990s
- Florence Loiret-Caille as Madeleine Verra
- Stanley Townsend as Doug
- * Éanna Hardwicke as Doug, in the 1970s
- Fabrice Scott as James
Production
Filming took place for a week in Cologne, Germany, four weeks in Lyon, France and six days in Dublin, Ireland.
The film is a French-German-Irish co-production. Laurent Larivière wrote the script with François Decodts with the intent of making a "novel-like film spanning different periods over forty years in different countries, a film in which you could hear several languages." Four languages can be heard spoken in the film: English, German, French, and a bit of Japanese at the end of the film.