SEPARATION, LA (director: Christian Vincent; cast: Isabelle Huppert (Anne), Daniel Auteuil (Pierre), Louis Vincent (Loulou), Jerome Deschamps (Victor), Karin Viard (Claire), Laurence Lerel (Laurence), Nina Morato (Marie), France-1994)
Pierre (Daniel Auteuil), a book illustrator, and Anne (Isabelle Huppert), a professional woman, are about to become separated despite an apparently satisfactory marriage. They are an affluent couple, living in a swell Parisian apartment, both of them nurturing all the love they possibly can muster for their 15 month old boy Loulou (Louis Vincent, the centerpiece of their lives), and are fortunate enough to have supportive friends. The surprise comes when they are watching an Ingrid Bergman film, where Ingrid states, "We have to change our way of living," as he tries to hold her hand, which she rebuffs, saying she just wants to watch the movie. Outside the theater she stuns him further by saying she is in love with another man. And that's the gist of the plot for this sophisticated and superbly acted romance story, that turns the tables on the old notion that the man controls the destiny of the household. Because of the expressiveness and raw emotions of the stars, as they go through all kinds of mood swings and power plays until they resolve this very ticklish and perplexing problem they face, we are confronted with a situation whereas Pierre has done nothing ghastly to ruin the marriage and the couple still profess a love for each other, yet they are undergoing a separation.
The news of what is happening to Pierre takes some time to sink in, as he doesn't know quite how to respond, at first, except by showing how much his pride has been hurt. Anne's reaction is to avoid eye contact, trying to console him gently, realizing how much she has hurt him. His quiet manner, hurt expression, and look of bewilderment says it all. While, strangely enough, they try to carry on with life as usual in their apartment, as their ideal nanny, Laurence (Laurence), minds the baby (she's a gem). After a few weeks of living like this, a rage starts to build in him and his jealousy starts to take over. He confides in his friend Victor (Deschamps) about how difficult it is for him, and Victor is supportive of him, but there is little one can say that is eloquent in such situations.
"In a couple, one suffers and the other one's bored, and vice versa." This epigram, revealed near the beginning of La Separation and repeated near its end, explains in some way what has happened to their marriage. It now becomes a question if they can weather this storm and the bitterness that is so much a part of their love. A pivotal scene is when the verbal fighting, accusations and hitting take place, that was really unexpected from this urbane couple, except we see it building up and festering inside the stricken Pierre. He feels like a wounded animal who must strike back. When the 40-year-old Victor tells him that he going to marry his long time girlfriend Claire (Viard), he can't even feel a joy for his friend's decision, as he is totally wrapped up in his own problems to be concerned with any one else's life.
The director wisely doesn't give us too much information about her lover or the details of their love life. We are left to fend for ourselves and see how uncommunicative they really are. At one point in the film, we are told about a California woman who had no conversations with her husband, so she miked their house and played back the tapes for divorce court, where she collected a bundle from her husband. That more or less sums up the direction the director was going with this one, by trying to explain the imponderable reason for the snag in their marriage due to a lack of communication.
This is an intelligent film, told from the point of view of the man, though this film is not as powerful as Paul Cox's similar type of film "My First Wife." Its huge plus, however, is that it avoids the use of cliches usually reserved for explaining why a couple is breaking up and plays up the small petty things in a relationship that strain one's nerves. This is exemplified in the scene where Anne is forced to fly a kite, even when she tells her husband no. Her anger at him, brings home the point of how silly most fights are.
When Pierre appears to be almost reconciled to the fact that he has lost his wife and now 18 month old child, he wistfully responds by saying, "I will now have to learn to live without you and Loulou."
Perhaps, Victor's comment to Pierre, "The last thing you find out is how others see you," clarifies how couples after several years of a seemingly contented marriage lose sight of each other's needs and a destructive behavioral pattern sets in.
This marriage-go-round leaves us off in familiar territory. Most of us know how it feels to be unsure of someone we love. And it stings. This work is a testament to a confused couple who are sensible enough to face things that are unpleasant to them in a forthright manner without covering it up. It is only the real good directors, as evidently Christian Vincent is, who can pull off such an imbroglio with everything turning out to be in a daze for them; but, nevertheless, ending up intact.
REVIEWED ON 7/3/99 GRADE: B
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
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