This is not an astrology reading, this is me talking about a film I watched and noticing Saturn nakshatra presence. I wrote the people with their placement in the beginning but thats about it. Also there are spoilers, beware
I had this film in my watch list ever since it came out. Only now I got around to watch it.
Saturn and Avoidance: the movie
Xavier Dolan (the director): Uttarabhadrapada sun and venus
Gaspard Ulliel : Anuradha sun, Uttarabhadrapada moon
Vincent Cassel : Anuradha sun and venus, Ashlesha ascendant, Revati moon
Marion Cotillard : Pushya moon and saturn
Nathalie Baye : Pushya ascendant, Ardra moon, Punarvasu sun
Léa Seydoux : Pushya mercury, Ardra sun, Magha ascendant, Mula moon
Jean-Luc Lagarce (the writer of the play that the film is based on) : Dhanishta sun, Chitra ascendant, Magha moon
The film is a film of familial knots the way I see it. The main character Louis (played by the late Gaspard Ulliel) returns to visit his family home for the first time at 34 after having left it 12 years ago. We as the audience have an idea for the reason of his visit, the family not so much, but it isn't that important anyway. Louis is like an outsider to his family, both socially and emotionally. He is estranged, seemingly by his own will. Throughout the years he never formed or chased close relationships with his family. Though he never missed important dates, such as birthdays, to send postcards, they were one-way.
Through his visit we slowly start seeing how the family dynamics are. Initially the family, both each in their own way and all together appear neurotic. The eldest sibling Antoine (played by Cassel) and the youngest Suzanne (played by Seydoux) are the most emotionally volatile. Despite being the middle child, Louis leaving has made the effect of an absent father.
Antoine is surrounded by women in his close family. His mother, wife and sister. He performes masculinity in the way that he always puts down everyone around him. His mother's recurring nostalgic stories, his wife's attempts at conversations, his sister's opinions. Yet it is apparent that these are performances based on love and anxiety. He doesn't actually look down on them. We see this in the little moments that he seems to enjoy his family's conversations, dances, remarks...
Antoine is hurt because his brother left, he is afraid because he doesn't know or understand what caused it, and finally he is anxious. To me it seems both for Louis' feelings and the rest of the family's feelings. He is anxious that the family will have feelings of hope of connection and bonding for all of it to be cut down again. He tries to shut down any possibility of discomfort ahead of time yet by this causing a discomfort himself. He is agitated, nervous and mocking in his manners. He shuts Louis down as well. What I find interesting is that he shuts Louis down consciously however his emotional receptivity is very apparent. Not only towards Louis but all of his family. Very in line with the ashlesha men insights of both Claire Nakti and Dercio Lichucha.
Antoine sees the mother in her joyous nostalgia inducing lunch programme, he sees his wife in her efforts to get to know the brother-in-law she only knows by what is told of him and by his postcards and flowers he sent when she gave birth to her children, and finally he sees his sister in her eagerness to impress and also get to know the brother she never got to spend time with when growing up. Antoine sees and worries. Antoine himself is hurt and hasn't managed to heal or manage the hurt properly. He is trying to perform the responsible head for the family all the while not being in hold of his own emotions. His feeling of powerlessness against the avoidance and detachment of Louis is made visible. It feels like a hot rock all jittery and unpredictable in his attacks interacting with a cold mountain who seems not fazed. Throughout the visit his nerves get more amped up and finally he snaps when his brother announces that he won't stay for dinner or for the night, that he will leave. His promises feel empty. Antoine snatches him away, so abruptly that the family doesn't even have time to say their goodbyes and Antoine is blamed for being always harsh and severe and down with all of them, causing them emotional turmoil. He is emotionally fragile and he too shares his grievances, his feelings of ridicule and disrespect and hurt from the rest of the family.
Suzanne mostly angsty and rebellious, despite being embarrassed by her mother's joy and nostalgic tendencies she resembles her mother the most. And she spends most of her time with her too. They bicker and fight yet they value, even enjoy each others presences. The mother (played by the late Nathalie Baye) knows her children, she knows their faults, weaknesses, strengths, she accepts them. She knows her son Louis has his own mind, she knows he doesn't speak much, that he is always polite, she knows that her stories are repetitive and yet she enjoys telling them, better yet she knows that they actually enjoy hearing them. She knows Louis willingly estranged himself, that he feels better-than them at times. She knows her daughter's embarrassment and angst is due to her self-conciousness, that she enjoys their company. She knows that Louis despite being the middle child carries an authority figure meaning for his siblings.
Catherine (played by Marion Cotillard) the wife of Antoine initially seems to be shy and subdued. However we see the love, respect and actual understanding between her and Antoine as the visit goes on. She is shy and nervous, probably of saying the wrong thing. But she is not embarrassed, she accepts herself and is fine with talking when she sees fit and she is also fine letting the talking to others. She is much better at listening, she actually is the only one who knows the reason of Louis' visit. She is much gentler than the rest of them, probably due to joining the family later, after the incident that hurt them. So the knots are not affecting her directly. And she knows Antoine's emotional approach to all of this, she understands and supports him. Yet at the same time she is always there for correcting and warn him about his harsh and brusque remarks, actions. She doesn't fight him, she doesn't attack him. She is a gentler presence around the family, somewhat softening the edges of the interactions.
Louis by leaving the family, possibly without knowing why himself, and definitely without his family knowing why, has formed a knot in the heart of the family which made way to other knots as they kept on living their life. Both his absence and presence is heavy. We see him unsure, uncomfortable, hesitant in his actions. It seems like he wasn't even sure why he wanted to come visit his family. We see him hesitate, let moments pass, face the after effects of his decisions of leaving them and remaining distant, building a life away from them. His visit may have not achieved what he planned to, but I find that it did achieve what he actually meant to. Which was connecting and making amends, peace with his family.
As the saying goes for peace must we be ready to fight. To undo the hurt is not possible but to heal and soothe, it is. Talking is not always the solution we envision it would be. His visit triggered all the family knots and sometimes the best way to solve a knot is to cut it (armada reference).
The movie could be seen from multiple lenses or themes but my focus was on the family bond and communication. And the way I see it this movie expresses that understanding, getting along or even liking isn't the foundation of the family bond but it is acceptance, presence and endurance. And love of course. We may not understand the closest people to us sometimes, we might not like what they do/feel/think, we might not even get along. What remains and sustains is acceptance, and the determination of acceptance. No one is perfect and no one will ever be. Being their perfect version is an illusion that people chase to avoid acceptance. Of themselves, of life, of others. It hurts us.
And I know there is absolutely zero nakshatra connection I made, so here is the part for that: they all have Saturn nakshatras and the main character is played by the actor who has the most Saturnian placements among them. This movie displays avoidance and it's effect on the individual doing the avoiding and the family who is avoided. It feels very close to abandonment. The writer of the play that the film is based on is a dhanishta native and I find that dhanishta also is a nakshatra that deals with suppression/avoidance themes.
Though there are spoilers here I still didn't tell everything about the movie, it is an interesting watch so I would recommend it.
If you read this far thank you for your attention and apologies for faults in language and/or logic.
