In Éléonore Faucher's debut film Brodeuses (A Common Thread, US title: Sequins) we meet 17-year-old redhead Claire (Lola Naymark). In private a passionate embroiderer, she finds herself pregnant from a colleague at the provincial supermarket. She has already left her parents’ house and is living alone, but now she has the feeling she has to disappear completely. She decides to present her services as an embroiderer to Madame Mélikian (Ariane Ascaride) who lives further off and who is a famous embroiderer for the likes of Christian Lacroix and La Maison Lesage. Madame Mélikian is overcome with grief over the death of her son in a motorcycle accident and could use some help. Claire is happy with the arrangement because it keeps her growing belly out of the public eye and at the same time it allows her to make some money with what she loves most: embroidery.

 

The two women, a future mother and a former mother, bond over their invisible children in silence, whilst working at the most delicate creations of beauty for women who will not yet, if ever, be mothers. The director and co-writer Éléonore Faucher spins a tale that consists not so much of words but of images, looks, glances and unspoken intentions. The common thread that binds Claire and Madame Mélikian is something that they do not realise immediately, though they nevertheless connect straight away over more than just their love for embroidery and the patience and attention to minute detail that it requires. Claire might even find that she starts to like Guillaume (Thomas Laroppe), the brother of her best friend, who was also involved in the motorcycle accident that killed her employer's son.

 

The entire film is more about feelings underneath the surface rather than the words that are spoken, and just like La femme de Gilles (Gilles's Wife) from Frédéric Fonteyne, the score, camerawork and production design are all aligned to create a very particular atmosphere and world in which the principal characters exist and which may show us something about their state of mind or clearly contrast with it. Both actresses do excellent work here with their rather quiet performances. The story does not tell us much about their characters’ past and not even about the present, but both the young Naymark and veteran actress Ascaride draw us close to their characters, to their thoughts and their feelings.

 

Right up to its terrific ending, which is so ambiguous and fragile and yet could be considered a happy ending, Brodeuses shows us Faucher’s complete control over her material and makes one wonder what the future has in store for us, since this is only the director’s first film.

 

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