Catherine Corsini's drama about infidelity and its consequences follows hot on the heels of Mademoiselle Chambon and I Am Love, two other recent similarly themed dramas from Europe.
Kristin Scott Thomas (from I've Loved You So Long, etc) plays Suzanne, a happily married forty-something mother of two adolescent children. Her husband Samuel (played by noted Israeli actor/ director Yvan Attal) is a successful surgeon, well off, respected and politically well connected. When Suzanne decides that she wants to return to work as a physiotherapist after having spent the past fifteen years raising her two children, Samuel is supportive and decides to redevelop the garage into an office and clinic for her.
He hires family friend Remi (Bernard Blancan) to oversee the construction work. But Remi is busy and subcontracts the job to Ivan (Sergi Lopez, best remembered as the villain of Pan's Labyrinth). Suzanne finds herself attracted to the swarthy, sweaty Spaniard, and begins a torrid affair with him. She announces that she plans to leave her family to live with Ivan, a decision that tears apart the once loving and close-knit family, and has tragic consequences.
Scott Thomas' terrific performance as the passionate Suzanne, who has grown bored with her comfortable life, drives this French drama. Her facial expressions brilliantly and silently convey a gamut of expressions, from joy, happiness, ecstasy, to guilt, determination and doubt, and we can almost see what she's thinking. And her ability to speak French perfectly is tremendous. Attal (from Rush Hour 3, Munich, etc) is also good as Samuel; initially he seems a sympathetic character, but he quickly reveals himself capable of extreme cruelty in the face of Suzanne's betrayal. Lopez is also very good.
Although Leaving shares a number of thematic similarities with the recent I Am Love, it is a better film. It is more engaging and emotionally satisfying than that pretentious, self-consciously arty and ultimately dull drama. Gaelle Mace's script is sparse, stripped back to the essentials, and Corsini's direction is suitably economical. There's not a wasted moment, or hint of flab or unnecessary padding in its brief but intense 85 minutes.
Kristin Scott Thomas (from I've Loved You So Long, etc) plays Suzanne, a happily married forty-something mother of two adolescent children. Her husband Samuel (played by noted Israeli actor/ director Yvan Attal) is a successful surgeon, well off, respected and politically well connected. When Suzanne decides that she wants to return to work as a physiotherapist after having spent the past fifteen years raising her two children, Samuel is supportive and decides to redevelop the garage into an office and clinic for her.
He hires family friend Remi (Bernard Blancan) to oversee the construction work. But Remi is busy and subcontracts the job to Ivan (Sergi Lopez, best remembered as the villain of Pan's Labyrinth). Suzanne finds herself attracted to the swarthy, sweaty Spaniard, and begins a torrid affair with him. She announces that she plans to leave her family to live with Ivan, a decision that tears apart the once loving and close-knit family, and has tragic consequences.
Scott Thomas' terrific performance as the passionate Suzanne, who has grown bored with her comfortable life, drives this French drama. Her facial expressions brilliantly and silently convey a gamut of expressions, from joy, happiness, ecstasy, to guilt, determination and doubt, and we can almost see what she's thinking. And her ability to speak French perfectly is tremendous. Attal (from Rush Hour 3, Munich, etc) is also good as Samuel; initially he seems a sympathetic character, but he quickly reveals himself capable of extreme cruelty in the face of Suzanne's betrayal. Lopez is also very good.
Although Leaving shares a number of thematic similarities with the recent I Am Love, it is a better film. It is more engaging and emotionally satisfying than that pretentious, self-consciously arty and ultimately dull drama. Gaelle Mace's script is sparse, stripped back to the essentials, and Corsini's direction is suitably economical. There's not a wasted moment, or hint of flab or unnecessary padding in its brief but intense 85 minutes.