Yvan Attal and Kristin Scott Thomas in Leaving. Photo / Supplied
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: Steamy and doomed.
We know from the start that this feverishly heated romantic thriller is going to turn out badly because someone gets shot in scene one and the story is a flashback. But not knowing who that someone is keeps us on edge throughout the taut and economical running time.
Scott Thomas,
who is finding a new lease of life as a star of French cinema, plays an affluent wife and mother who decides to start work again as a physiotherapist. Ivan (Lopez), the carpenter hired to convert a backyard shed into a consulting room, is her polar opposite in class terms but he rekindles a fire that had gone out a long time ago.
The delicacy with which these two conjure up the slowly building passion is something to behold and the fiendishly plotted drama as the wronged husband (a terrific Attal) exerts his power on the beleaguered lovers makes for a fine drama.
It's a very old-fashioned film, really, in the best sense of that term - the kind of torrid, high-stakes romance that 50s filmgoers thrilled to, but set in a brightly sunlit and sweltering Provence. Highly recommended.
Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sergi Lopez, Yvan Attal Director: Catherine Corsini
Running time: 85 mins Rating: R16 (contains sex scenes) In French with English subtitles
