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Leaving starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Yvan Attal & Sergi Lopez

Posted on July 17, 2011 Written by ripitup

Leaving starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Yvan Attal & Sergi López. Despite its characters, a strangely watchable film. Image via sinemag.com

Leaving Plot Summary: (Original Name: Partir)

Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) is an English woman who has lived in France for a very long time. She has married the French doctor Samuel (Yvan Attal), left her profession (reflexology), had two kids and lived a suburban life.

When she decides to go back to work many years later, her husband agrees to build her an office in their house. They hire a small team of workers, and Suzanne gets along especially well with the originally Spanish Ivan (Sergi López). When circumstances, and their mutual easy-going nature, make them spend time together, an affair inevitably pursues. But when Suzanne realizes that she loves Ivan enough to leave her husband, she definitely wasn’t prepared for his reaction.

The bad thing about leaving your popular and well-connected husband for a penniless ex-con is that he can make sure you suffer from poverty. Suzanne is determined to win this war, but can a war like this have any winners at all?

Cons

Did my plot summary sound a tad dramatic? Well, the movie is a drama. Well, it is a romantic drama to be exact, but it is dramatic parts are more effective, as unfortunately for the most part, the romance was lost on me. Here is why:

1) The Other Guy is So Not Sexy! : I don’t want to sound superficial here but I can’t for the life of me can’t see what she saw in Ivan. Yes, as it turned out he was a really nice guy (well, apart from being an ex-con and having no problems sleeping with a married woman), but we didn’t really know that until after she left her husband to be with him.

Fun Note:

I just read this cruel review on Larry Crowne where the reviewer called it a painful experience watching an older Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks. While Tom Hanks was never especially cute, his Larry Crowne self is still a lot more appealing than Ivan. And that is saying something.

2) The Lover Won’ t Be A ” Lover” for Decades!: Give Ivan 20 years of marriage and we’ll see if he is that sexually and emotionally intense afterwards. Yes, her husband seemed like a tool but really, has she lived with Ivan for 20 years?

3) Cheating is not romantic! I am a romantic who is intrinsically against cheating. I am more of a leave- your-spouse-first-and have-sex-with-somebody-else later kinda gal.

Still, I have been known to suck it up when the lover was awesome and the husband was an jerk. For instance? Revenge with Kevin Costner.

However, here, the lover was anything but awesome. He wasn’t even remotely intriguing. Or sexy. Or …anything.

4) The Protagonist Can Give Feminists a Heart Attack! People gave Twilight hell because they thought the female protagonist was just against everything feminism stood for. Bascially, they were judging a17-year-old character for falling for a pretty rich & handsome dude who will live forever, and who will always be hot? Who will risk his life to save her? Hell, she might be emotionally dependent on the guy, but it is not like she stayed at home for 20 years, didn’t make or save a penny on her own, jumped the bones of the first non-attractive stranger, and left her obsessed husband to be with this stranger?

If we are talking anti-feminist, you need to condemn Suzanne way before Bella.

5) 3 Stupid Characters: Oh, and the characters are beyond weird and stupid. No one in the film seems to possess half a brain cell.

Why the hell did I enjoy watching it, then?

Because despite all its cons, the movie is entirely watchable. You gotta hand it to the director who shot a movie in French, evolving around weird characters. And you have to slap the actors on the back who make you curious even though you don’t respect/admire/like any of the characters!

Leaving has interesting scenery, an an OK pace. It is currently rated 6.3 on IMDB, and it has a lot to do with Scott’s terrific acting and charm along with the director’s.

Should you Watch It?

I won’t lie to you. The movie is not to be watched for eye-candy, or a sexy love story. It is more about the lengths a husband will go to make his wife’s and her lover’s lives miserable, and the incredulous lengths the wife will go to defy him, and secure her lover’s freedom.

Watch it at your own peril. You might very well hate or enjoy the experience. But all you want is a passionate love/sex story with pretty (or at least prettier) leads, you might want to see:

The English Patient. This movie is incredible. It has a beautifully told story where we get love, sex, passion, obsession, infatuation, war, compassion, betrayal and immense loyalty all at the same time. The movie has 9 Oscars, the man being cheated on is Colin Firth, the cheater is a much younger Kristin Scott Thomas and the other man is the highly charismatic and intense Ralph Fiennes.

Revenge. The cheaters are Kevin Costner and Madeleine Stowe. The husband is Anthony Quinn. The director is Tony Scott. Aren’t you curious already? From 1990.

The Scarlet Letter. In all defense, Demi Moore thinks her husband is dead when she was sleeping with Gary Oldman. Their problem was that it was the 17th century, the dude was a psycho and Gary Oldman was a reverend…

Verdict:

Watchable and likable, but not likely to leave a lasting impression, other than how stupid all the main characters were.

P.S. If you really want to watch a French movie where Kristin Scott Thomas is brilliant and the story is truly heart-breaking, watch I’ve loved you for so long. If you want a movie about cheating where you will lust after and/or empathize with the leads, watch one of the 3 movies above.

Wuthering Heights starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche

Posted on March 24, 2010 Written by ripitup

Wuthering Heights starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche — Juliette Binoche, to me, is one of the most beautiful and graceful actresses ever. And we all know Ralph Fiennes can go from a mental patient to serial killer to obssessed lover to....well, anything. They also star in The English Patient together. Photo from: movietrimmer.com

Imagine watching The English Patient at the theaters the weekend it came out and then watching Wuthering Heights the next day at school. It is bound to make you Ralph Fiennes fan for life.

Although I am a romantic that loves happy endings, I had loved reading Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte. It is perfect for any English class and it just absorbed me. It is haunting, depressing and captivating. Although boys might argue that girls might find this story more fascinating (and they may be right), this is definitely not a chick-flick type of novel. True, there is an obsessive and passionate love story at the very core, but the essence is much more than that. Social perceptions, expectations and norms affect lead character Cathy’s actions. But before Cathy started caring about this stuff, there is the jealousy that caused his brother Hindley’s actions that would also help shape his fate and others’.

Alright, before I get all society-criticizing on you, I should go over the plot. There is a big chance you read the book and/or seen one version of this movie but I’ll remind you anyway.

Catherine Earnshaw’s father one day brings a poor boy at home. He has no one, so he wants his daughter Cathy and his brother Hindley to treat this boy –Heathcliff- like a sibling. Cathy and Heathcliff do indeed become great friends. However Hindley (Jeremy Northam) despises him and he starts treating him like a worthless being as soon as the father dies. This doesn’t stop the inseparable duo from hanging out together. It’d be fair to say they are much more than friends, although they have never exactly acted on it. So Heathcliff (Ralph Fiennes) doesn’t leave Wuthering Heights no matter how badly he is treated. But one day Cathy (Juliette Binoche) has a little accident and is taken care of by the Lintons, a rich and well-respected family. Cathy becomes friends with the sister and brother (Edgar) Lintons. When she returns home, she seems spoilt and too ladylike for Heathcliff’s liking. She also spends less time with him and seems romantically interested in Edgar. What causes Heathcliff to run away, and change everyone’s lives forever is his hearing Cathy that marrying him would be degrading. When Heathcliff comes back years later, he is wealthy, bitter and ready to take on anyone who caused him to suffer so badly.

This movie/novel does a great job depicting the dark sides of human nature. Ralph Fiennes is superb as the passionate and star-crossed lover. He plays his role to such perfection that even when Heathcliff turns into a mean bastard, causing pain to people who didn’t even hurt him, you understand him. Ralph becomes Heathcliff and makes you feel every bit of his frustration, possession, desperation, loss of innocence and more.

Juliette Binoche is equally brilliant. With any lesser actress, Cathy could have come off as one-dimensional, superficial character. Although I never approved of Cathy’s decision of choosing Edgar over Heathcliff, you can’t help but understanding why.

I love this film, even though I usually hate depressing love stories. But hey, what kind of romantic- even with optimistic tendencies like mine- doesn’t like this film? Did you know that it is one of Johnny Depp’s favorite movies? When asked if he is a romantic, he answers “Well, I saw Wuthering Heights for like 10 times. What do you think?”

See it. Just make sure you are not expecting happiness and light mood. One of the best and most touching period pieces.

Bernard and Doris: Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon

Posted on February 11, 2010 Written by ripitup

Bernard and Doris with Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon. Charming and fun all over...

Half-based on the life of Doris Duke- one of the richest people of her time.

Doris Duke (Susan Sarandon) is an interesting, smart and demanding woman who loves her fun; especially in the form of booze and young men. Her inherited fortune has multiplied because of her sharp business mind.

Bernard (Ralph Fiennes) is a shy, nice and polite butler that starts working for her.

At first she treats her like the rest of her staff but slowly they develop a strong bond and friendship.

Now, what’s interesting about this movie is how Doris allows (gay) Bernard to express himself and takes him out of his shell. Of course people working for Doris finds their friendship weird but then again it is not like our colorful duo care. Sure just like every movie some conflicts will arise here too…

Ralph Fiennes is so adorably cute in Bernard. It was refreshing to see him as a first plain, than an increasingly flamboyant homosexual. He and Susan make a wonderful onscreen couple and their performances make the movie. It is fun, charming and relaxing.

Strongly recommended for every Susan and Ralph fan.

More on Ralph Fiennes:

Strange Days

The English Patient: When adultery is OK

Strange Days – One Hell of a Movie

Posted on December 24, 2009 Written by ripitup

Strange Days with Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis. Written by James Cameron and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

1999. Los Angeles. The “City of Angels” has never been more chaotic, the cops have never been so corrupt and life is more complicated than ever.

Our (anti-) hero Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) used to be a cop. Now he is a dealer who sells the “drug” of the decade: tapes of real experiences (of real people)- through a device that sends signals straight to their brain. Result? Highly addictive habit of living through other people’s moments. Everything feels real. Who needs porn when you can watch an actual couple having sex and feel every bit of it in your body too? But there is a downside. Crimes have just become more dangerous. There is a psycho out there killing-while he makes his victim watch her own death live- hence doubling the pain, shock and horror.

Lenny is obsessed with his ex Faith (Juliette Lewis), an ex-hooker/singer wannabe who’s dating a seriously bad guy (Michael Wincott).

Lenny does have someone he can count on,though. His best friend Macey (Angela Bassett). But while Lenny turned weak and miserable, Macey has turned into a kick-ass single mom who can do more than take care of herself and she gets Lenny out of trouble quite a few times. Lenny and Macey share an old bond and even though Mace doesn’t approve of Lenny’s conduct, she sets to help him out.

The movie takes exciting twists and turns as the pair needs to uncover a murder that has to do with an infamous rap singer with a huge following, sadistic cops and Faith’s boyfriend/manager who doesn’t like Lenny all that much.

This is one of those gloriously dark movies. It takes you to all the grey areas, multi-dimensional and colorful characters and truly psychotic bad guys. But just when you think, the world is shitty and dark, it does show you love, friendship and hope exist.

The script is highly original, and to me, it’s the best James Cameron has ever written. Forget about every other movie he wrote. Strange Days is a strange gem. It won’t get old.

I was lucky to first see this 1996 film while I was in 1999, on New Year’s Eve, waiting for the millennium. Got to tell, you- it made it extra effective.

Ralph Fiennes is always good and he is a versatile actor. He can scare you or seduce you, make you like or hate him very easily. His character Nero is very likable character despite his flaws. He is weak and strong, he is stupid and smart…All in all, his character is entertaining and very humane.

I definitely adore Bassett’s role. She owns her scenes. The rest of the cast is also impressive with Tom Sizemore, Vincent D’Onofrio, and my favorite baddy Michael Wincott (from The Crow, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).

The director is Kathryn Bigelow. She is very good at making adrenaline-inducing films. I also love her Point Break (starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze).

It is one of favorite movies ever. Be ready to have fun, to be disturbed and to see real action.