ShareThisBy PHIL VILLARREAL
Sunday, November 12, 2006
When people in the movies find out they've got three months to live, they automatically turn into nice people. They empty out their savings accounts to go on the vacation of a lifetime, revisit all their former lovers to apologize for their shortcomings and also make a series of tear-jerking videos for their unborn children.
"Time to Leave" takes a well-worn concept and adds a twist _ the guy that's dying is a jerk, and he stays a jerk, and you shouldn't really feel bad for him.
Writer/director Francois Ozon shows his audience a self-absorbed bastard, lets you find out along with him that he's got terminal cancer, then dares you to feel for the character as he grows even more cruel and bitter. Ozon's experiment is to pit your natural sympathy against the urge to see the protagonist get his comeuppance.
The short-timer is gay Paris fashion photographer Romain (Melvil Poupaud), a cold, unfeeling man who learns his fate after he sees the doctor following a blackout during a shoot. Opting against chemotherapy, Romain, who does drugs and says again and again that he hates children, keeps the news to himself as much as possible and proceeds to cut everyone who loves him out of his life.
He belittles his sister and parents at dinner, then goes home and dumps his live-in partner, Sasha (Christian Sengewald). Just after they have sex, Romain kicks Sasha out, commanding him to gather his things and leave immediately.
Romain hints at a softer side in fleeting snapshots. A glance in the mirror and sees his image as a child looking back at him, a symbol of the inner tenderness he thought he destroyed long ago. He talks to a friendly waitress, Jany (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) and visits his grandmother, Laura (Jeanne Moreau), with whom he shares a special bond. Romain tells Laura of his plight, but adds a barb about her age _ he says it's OK to tell her because she'll die soon herself.
As spare, direct and chilly as Romain's delivery, "Time to Leave" follows a man's grudging efforts to come to peace with his existence and make sense of his life as he readies for departure. Ozon and Poupaud manage to pull off a fascinating trick: causing you to feel for an unfeeling man. The more time you spend with Romain, the more you see what he's doing is sparing those closest to him the agony of watching him decay before their eyes.
Those looking for the traditional Hollywood sweetness or payoffs will walk away disappointed, but the rough-hewn film offers riches to those willing to endure its downbeat tale of detachment. Romain's dying wish seems to be to vanish _ his lingering fear to leave a trace of his life on this cruel world he reflected, yet never understood.
3 stars out of 4
Not rated.
Cast: Melvil Poupaud, Jeanne Moreau, Christian Sengewald.
Writer/director: Francois Ozon.
Family call: Ample sex scenes make this one for adults.
Running time: 85 minutes
Et cetera: In French, with English subtitles.
(Read Phil Villarreal's blog at scrippsnews.com/philmguy and contact him at pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com.)
