robert-temple-1 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.

writers_reign This is just one more example of why French cinema is the best in the world. No real story, no suspense, no sex, no violence BUT! also no cgi, no slasher movie #24, no Hollywood Formula - The Sequel. In short just two of the finest actors on the planet running with a situation in which virtually out of the blue the wife tells the husband she is in love with another man. It's never that quite out of the blue of course and one of the strengths of this movie is the writing on the wall which is in turn projected onto the screen; the smallest hairline fractures in what, on the surface, is a perfect marriage complete with child. Juliette Binoche is a fine actress, no question, but it is virtually impossible to picture anyone other than Isabelle Huppert in the role of Anne and the same applies to Daniel Auteuil as Pierre, each of them fully inhabits the role in which they have been cast and although there is outstanding support from Jerome Deschamps and Karin Viard it is really superfluous. One of the finest films of the 90s, not just from France but from anywhere but it helps if you go to movies to check out the Human Condition rather than to spray popcorn at each other.

George Parker The aptly titled film "The Separation" scrutinizes the disintegration of the relationship between a couple (Huppert & Auteuil). That's it...no more, no less. Superbly acted by two of France's finest at the top of their game, the film has little going for it making it a fringe watch for foreign or French cinema buffs. Not recommended for general consumption. (B-)

pie-3 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).