The Separation

This disturbing film directed by Christian Vincent has one of Daniel Auteuil's best and most versatile performances. His 'partner', played with icy intensity by Isabelle Huppert, not only has a sadistic streak, but is wholly self-absorbed. She eyes Auteuil as he suffers because of her callous infidelity with the detachment of an abortionist crushing the head of an infant who has dared to scream after supposedly being 'disposed of' from the womb. Auteuil is at his wits' end, raging, cursing, hugging her, crying, discussing it helplessly with his friends, and the eye at the centre of the storm is the imperturbable Huppert, whose glassy stare and frozen visage are as relentless as a harpy. One puzzle: why does Auteuil go around unshaven all the time looking like a vagabond? So does his best friend. Is this chic? Looks a mess to me! Maybe Huppert has given up on trying to persuade him to shave and hates having her face scratched? Although she is the kind of character who would have pulled the wings off flies as a child, Auteuil's charm does not wholly compensate for his defiantly scruffy appearance, and as a tidy gal, that must get up her nose. This gut-wrenching story of the destruction of a relationship is from a novel, and with a screenplay by the author Dan Franck, who wrote the brilliant 1998 book 'Bohemes' ('Bohemian Paris', Grove Press, New York, 2001), perhaps the best survey of the Montmartre and Montparnasse days ever written. Let's hope it is not autobiographical, as if so, he must still be suffering. However, the detail is so precise, I fear it might all be true. There is a fine performance also by Laurent Lerel, as an au pair girl who loves Autueil from afar, and wishes to comfort him in his distress, but he never notices her. What a sad, sad tale.

Two of France's great actors give flawless performances as a couple whose marriage is sadly in need of repair. The problem started it seems when they allowed little irritations to accumulate instead of discussing them openly and finding immediate solutions. In a word, this film is about lack of communication between partners. It is so true to life that it's almost painful at times as the couple perpetually nit-pick and argue using hurtful suggestions and criticising every look and gesture. The dialogue is excellent - brief, terse, unforgiving with mounting impatience. As eavesdroppers on their marital problems we become emotionally involved and begin to wonder which of the partners will be the first to crack under the strain. Separation seems inevitable. Early resentments now become uncontrollable outbursts with physical violence. Which partner will leave first? Important to the story is the character of the 18 months old baby, intensely loved by both parents. The sweet innocence of the baby ( Nice little actor!)gives some relief to the bitterness of the sparring parents. Anne asks Pierre:"What made me fall in love with you?" She tells him. The answer will surprise you. The ending of the film may surprise you, too.

A sober exploration of the disintegration (in mid-course apparently) of a relationship whose breach is spurred by selfishness and a callous disregard for "the other" and a child. Such disregard then leads to betrayal, devastation (of the betrayed), indecision and disorientation of the betrayed---and the death of the relationship and of reality as it was understood beforehand. The betrayed is left with no longer certain of what was ever real, and what can ever be real again with any degree of certainty. Ultimately, one understands why Dantes 9th and lowest circle of hell belong to those who betrayed their ultimate commitments. Watch the film. If you haven't been "there," you will feel it indirectly. If you have been "there," you will live it over again and find some degree of resonance and solidarity with Pierre, who is lost in so many ways at the film's end.....and can't even find his way "home." After all, Home" is gone forever.

Any person who has seen and loved Un coeur en hiver (The Heart in Winter) should see this film as well - it also stars the melancholic Daniel Auteuil. It's almost painful to see him laugh. A film that contrasts the bitterness of betrayal with the sweetness of intimacy, La Séparation delves into the anatomy of a break-up - the growing coolness, lack of concern, estrangement that can exist between two people who still are the primary characters in one another's stories. The couple is not married, but have a home, son, and life in common. Even as they discuss the thing that has come between them, the two cuddle; indeed, were the dialogue silenced for a moment or two, it would be easy to believe they were comforting each other. And indeed, they attempt to soothe each other even as they seem to rend their relationship beyond reconciliation. There is a great reluctance to separate, but is this because of love, comfort, or the fear of starting over? See this movie alone, and don't plan to go dancing afterwards. Buy a bottle of red wine on the way home from the theater (if you are fortunate enough to see it in one).

This is a carefully crafted study of the break-up of a marriage. The subtle and powerful performances of Daniel Auteuil and Isabelle Huppert as the couple in question, and Vincent's well-paced direction of a good quality script, deliver a film that does not fall into the usual cliches of this genre.

Well worth seeing.