BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE sounds like a Bushido epic, some Samurai saga, but is actually a very French menage a trois story, cutting a swathe with the serrated edge of female desire.

Opening with an idyllic shot of two lovers in passionate entwine, both bodies embraced by a tranquil, turquoise sea. There’s a beautiful buoyancy to their bodies and spirit. Returning to Paris, the loved-up couple, Sara and Jean, continue their holiday high while settling back to their day to day routine.

Sara works at Radio France Internationale, RFI, a French public-service station that covers news from all over. We discover that Jean is unemployed, that he did time in prison, that he used to play rugby and is now struggling to get back to work. He is also father to estranged son, Marcus, who is living with Nelly, Jean’s mother.

An old acquaintance, Francois, offers Jean a job in his sports management company. Francois used to be Sara’s lover. And so, it goes. Is Francois out for revenge? This idea is not explicit, details are kept minimal, but it is  sufficiently entertained. It allows the spectators the freedom to use their imagination about motivation and method.

The two leads are played by actors without peer. Juliette Binoche as Sara and Vincent Lindon as Jean set romantic and dramatic sparks fly. Gregoire Colin as Francois, Bulle Ogier as Nelly and Issa Perica as Marcus are all superb in their satellite roles

A film by Claire Denis, BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE is a bold study of the juggling and jangling of relationships, of unbridled desire and true love, duplicity and delusion. Another tale of aggrieved entitlement.

If only life continually reflected the opening sequence in the sea languid and lyrical and loving…. But then, would we appreciate the tranquility without the tempest?