Loosely based on the true-life story of a white-collar family man who went spectacularly off the rails, Laurent Cantet's perceptive drama was made in 2001 but couldn't be more pertinent today
Jean-Claude Romand was a wealthy, white-collar Frenchman; married with two children, he worked as a doctor for the World Health Organisation in Geneva. Or so he said. In fact, he'd never graduated from medical school, or held down a job, and lived off savings he'd weaseled out of his parents, in-laws and mistress, to whom he'd promised huge returns on covert investments. About to be found out, he opted not to confess, but to kill his entire family, dog included, then burn his house to the ground.
Two brilliant works of art have emerged in France from the tragedy. A gripping, slippery memoir by the novelist Emmanuel Carrère, The Adversary, based partly on his correspondences with Romand in a...
Jean-Claude Romand was a wealthy, white-collar Frenchman; married with two children, he worked as a doctor for the World Health Organisation in Geneva. Or so he said. In fact, he'd never graduated from medical school, or held down a job, and lived off savings he'd weaseled out of his parents, in-laws and mistress, to whom he'd promised huge returns on covert investments. About to be found out, he opted not to confess, but to kill his entire family, dog included, then burn his house to the ground.
Two brilliant works of art have emerged in France from the tragedy. A gripping, slippery memoir by the novelist Emmanuel Carrère, The Adversary, based partly on his correspondences with Romand in a...
- 12/23/2009
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Time Out
For those who saw "Human Resources", the splendid 1999 debut by French filmmaker Laurent Cantet, "Time Out" is another home run. Indeed, in only two films, Cantet has gained many admirers among critics, and both projects have won awards, in-cluding "Time Out" taking a top prize at the 2001 Venice International Film Festival. It opened Friday in New York, with Los Angeles to follow April 12.
Based on a tragic true story of a man who pretended to have an important job for almost 20 years, the English-subtitled "Time Out" is a deliberately paced, very believable tale of a modern French businessman who tries to reinvent himself after being fired but doesn't succeed. Destined to achieve reasonable success in limited theatrical engagements, the ThinkFilm release certainly will win lead Aurelien Recoing new fans.
A veteran stage actor in his first leading role onscreen, Recoing conveys in most scenes a great deal using little more than his eyes and face in playing Vincent, a work-dispossessed family man who is perpetually off-balance but centered enough by nature to maintain control. At first, after seeing that he sleeps in his car and that he appears to be a con man of sorts, one is inclined to be suspicious and judgmental of Vincent.
In Hollywood movies, even challenging ones like "Falling Down", there are many predictable ways for a tale like this to unfold. But Cantet and co-writer Robin Campillo deftly reveal, piece by piece, the elaborate charade Vincent constructs, including the creation of a fake job and a bogus investment scheme that he deviously uses to raise cash. On a structural level, "Time Out" winningly shifts between Vincent's more or less normal home life and his unusual activities on the road while steadily increasing one's interest and sympathy in his fate.
Telling his suspicious but loving wife, Muriel (Karin Viard), that he has gotten a new job in nearby Geneva, Vincent borrows a large sum of money from his father (Jean-Pierre Mangeot) to get an apartment there. Meanwhile, crossing paths with old friends and colleagues, Vincent passes himself off as a man with a sure-bet investment, and it's mildly shocking how easily people are persuaded to give him significant sums of money with no guarantees.
Barely able at times to keep the deception going, he invites Muriel to visit him in Geneva and manages to get past the nonexistent apartment issue by taking her to the mountain farmhouse he stays in.
There are several knockout sequences. With echoes of Michelangelo Antonioni, one shows Vincent as he wanders through a Geneva office building, as if he's looking for a vacant office to occupy and trying to blend into the architecture. He eventually ends up in the lobby with his briefcase and appears legit, until a security guard asks him to leave. In another, Vincent and Muriel walk in the snow and get separated by dense fog, with the tension incredibly high over her unspoken suspicions.
Vincent is essentially decent and desperate and unconventionally flourishing as a man out of sync with the world. Eventually, he's approached by a career hustler (Serge Livrozet) and does get a job selling knockoffs made in Poland to pay back those he has borrowed from. Muriel talks to a former workmate of Vincent's and learns a little about the truth. The climax is unexpected, and the conclusion is not the upbeat denouement it appears to be on the surface.
From spiritual rebirth to bruising defeat, Vincent's odyssey resonates in a profound way, comparable to the classic films of Jean Renoir.
"Time Out" is also technically inspiring and immeasurably en-hanced by composer Jocelyn Pook's somber score. n
TIME OUT
ThinkFilm
A Haut et Court production
Director Laurent Cantet
Screenwriters Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet
Producer Caroline Benjo
Executive producer Barbara Letellier
Director of photography Pierre Milon
Art director Romain Denis
Editor Robin Campillo
Costume designer Elizabeth Mehu
Music Jocelyn Pook
Color/stereo
Cast:
Vincent Aurelien Recoing
Muriel Karin Viard
Jean-Michael Serge Livrozet
Father Jean-Pierre Mangeot
Mother Monique Mangeot
Running time -- 134 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Based on a tragic true story of a man who pretended to have an important job for almost 20 years, the English-subtitled "Time Out" is a deliberately paced, very believable tale of a modern French businessman who tries to reinvent himself after being fired but doesn't succeed. Destined to achieve reasonable success in limited theatrical engagements, the ThinkFilm release certainly will win lead Aurelien Recoing new fans.
A veteran stage actor in his first leading role onscreen, Recoing conveys in most scenes a great deal using little more than his eyes and face in playing Vincent, a work-dispossessed family man who is perpetually off-balance but centered enough by nature to maintain control. At first, after seeing that he sleeps in his car and that he appears to be a con man of sorts, one is inclined to be suspicious and judgmental of Vincent.
In Hollywood movies, even challenging ones like "Falling Down", there are many predictable ways for a tale like this to unfold. But Cantet and co-writer Robin Campillo deftly reveal, piece by piece, the elaborate charade Vincent constructs, including the creation of a fake job and a bogus investment scheme that he deviously uses to raise cash. On a structural level, "Time Out" winningly shifts between Vincent's more or less normal home life and his unusual activities on the road while steadily increasing one's interest and sympathy in his fate.
Telling his suspicious but loving wife, Muriel (Karin Viard), that he has gotten a new job in nearby Geneva, Vincent borrows a large sum of money from his father (Jean-Pierre Mangeot) to get an apartment there. Meanwhile, crossing paths with old friends and colleagues, Vincent passes himself off as a man with a sure-bet investment, and it's mildly shocking how easily people are persuaded to give him significant sums of money with no guarantees.
Barely able at times to keep the deception going, he invites Muriel to visit him in Geneva and manages to get past the nonexistent apartment issue by taking her to the mountain farmhouse he stays in.
There are several knockout sequences. With echoes of Michelangelo Antonioni, one shows Vincent as he wanders through a Geneva office building, as if he's looking for a vacant office to occupy and trying to blend into the architecture. He eventually ends up in the lobby with his briefcase and appears legit, until a security guard asks him to leave. In another, Vincent and Muriel walk in the snow and get separated by dense fog, with the tension incredibly high over her unspoken suspicions.
Vincent is essentially decent and desperate and unconventionally flourishing as a man out of sync with the world. Eventually, he's approached by a career hustler (Serge Livrozet) and does get a job selling knockoffs made in Poland to pay back those he has borrowed from. Muriel talks to a former workmate of Vincent's and learns a little about the truth. The climax is unexpected, and the conclusion is not the upbeat denouement it appears to be on the surface.
From spiritual rebirth to bruising defeat, Vincent's odyssey resonates in a profound way, comparable to the classic films of Jean Renoir.
"Time Out" is also technically inspiring and immeasurably en-hanced by composer Jocelyn Pook's somber score. n
TIME OUT
ThinkFilm
A Haut et Court production
Director Laurent Cantet
Screenwriters Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet
Producer Caroline Benjo
Executive producer Barbara Letellier
Director of photography Pierre Milon
Art director Romain Denis
Editor Robin Campillo
Costume designer Elizabeth Mehu
Music Jocelyn Pook
Color/stereo
Cast:
Vincent Aurelien Recoing
Muriel Karin Viard
Jean-Michael Serge Livrozet
Father Jean-Pierre Mangeot
Mother Monique Mangeot
Running time -- 134 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/1/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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