Leaving

Leaving is set in the south of France amidst the sun-drenched countryside of Nimes. Warm colors and beautiful photography create the perfect setting for Catherine Corsini’s take on a familiar tale of the bourgeois middle aged housewife who leaves her rich husband, house and children to be with (read as: make lots of raw, passionate love with) a simple Spanish tradesman. It was never destined to be a happy ending though.

The film begins with a frazzled Suzanne (Kristen Scott Thomas) stumbling out of bed and down the hallway to load a rifle. We hear a shot and then are whisked away to a time six months earlier when all is still well in the French countryside. Suzanne is the wife of a doctor, Samuel (Yvan Attal) and mother to two teenagers. She has decided to return to her former occupation as a physiotherapist and Samuel arranges to have the shed at the rear of their house converted into a consulting room.

Suzanne’s spiral into uncontrollable love begins the day she meets Spanish labourer, Ivan (Sergi Lopez) who has been hired to complete the job and is to be paid illegally, under the table. At first she manages to uphold the image of a happily married woman, but a sequence of unexpected events result in her spending an increasing amount of time with attractive Ivan who is an odd-job man, with little money, who has spent time in prison.

Scott Thomas and Lopez are utterly convincing in their relationship and portray a romance that is passionate and seemingly unstoppable. From the moment their characters meet they exchange tense glances and the audience can truly feel the attraction developing at an alarming rate. It’s as if Suzanne would be helpless to even consider trying to stop it. It is clear that Corsini has imagined a classical story of love that is real, impulsive and refuses to be impeded by anything, lack of finances, a revengeful husband, distressed children and ultimately, even death.

Leaving is more than just a good, safe, romantic, French drama. Corsini has managed to tell a familiar middle-aged adultery story in a refreshing way that leaves the audience drawn to the intense, yet understated performances of Lopez and Scott Thomas long after the final credits have rolled. Attal is also memorable in his portrayal of the husband that feels as though his wife owes him to stay.

The film will surely hit a soft spot with anyone who has ever been overcome, even momentarily, by love’s unreasonable impulsions.

By C. Alex de Freitas, February 2010.