For Lovers Of Bergman And Altman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               "May December" came out in 2023, but David and I did not get to see it until several weeks ago, and for those who feel Bergman's 1966 "Persona," and Robert Altman's 1977 "Three Women" are iconic films, feel free to add Todd Haynes' film to that duo.

                                  There are no deer, nor glimmers into Fifties America here.  The premise is simple, the execution complex.  Julianne Moore plays Grace Atherton-Yoo, largely modeled after Mary Kay Letourneau.  Now, for those who may not recall Mary Kay--no, dears, we are NOT talking cosmetics, now! --she was the Washington State school teacher who in 1996 had a sexual relationship with her sixth-grade student, Vili Fulaau.  Sixth grade; can you believe it???????  This led to an arrest, conviction and a prison sentence, resulting in the birth of a child while in prison.  The two married in 2005, had more children, and separated in 2019.  In July 2020, Letourneau died of colon cancer.

                                       Moore's character, Grace, is married to the student, and the action takes place a long time after the aforementioned.  Along comes Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry, an actress playing Atherton-Yoo in a forthcoming movie.  As the film unwinds, so do the characters, till one is not sure who is acting, who is manipulating the other, whether or not the personalities come together, and there are two important scenes--one near the end, where Grace almost turns on her husband in a way that made me lose sympathy for her, and the final scene on the film set, where Portman's character, who had an agenda from the start, gets exactly what she wants.  Is she any the happier for it?  Is anyone here?   That is what Haynes leaves the audience to figure out, and he positions the actresses in a number of mirror shots and together close-ups to emphasize the duality of personalities seeming to come together, until one cannot figure out who is the actor, or who is acting.

                                          There is nothing romantic about "May December," so don't let the title fool you.  But Hayes does pull back the layers under two distinct personalities until we can hardly tell one from the other.

                                             I loved it.  As for who is the best performance, there is no answer.  The two actresses are so in sync they could not work without each other.

                                              Girls, I am telling you, this will invite a real coffee klatch discussion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!