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hermionesviolinTime To Leave (Le Temps qui reste, France, 2005, 90 min.)
I was reminded of A Year Without Love. [Which I still need to post about. I am obscenely behind, I know.]
An IMDb reviewer said, "gorgeous title, I feel obliged to emphasize this," so I used the dictionary.com translator on it. "The Time which remains." I like this title better than "Time to Leave." "Time to Leave" is wholly unmemorable (to me, at least) whereas "The Time Which Remains" is v. much what the film is about -- Romain doing what he will with the time which remains left to him.
From the MFA blurb: "Romain is never sanctified or made heroic, and the reconciliations he makes are with himself rather than with others." (Description adapted from the London Film Festival. )
His grandmother is the first person he actually tells. To her question of why:
"Because you're like me; you're going to die soon."
Grandmother on all the supplements etc. she takes:
"With all this, I'll die in perfect health."
"You're sweet; I wish we'd met sooner; I'd have married you." (Romain and grandmother)
I felt bad for the waitress when Romain left the first time -- I wanted to take her aside and say, "It's nothing to do with you; he's gay, and rather mean, and dying," but then she shows back up and is married and I was all, "Bzuh?"
"My husband... we both think you're handsome."
I loved that they wanted him to be a sperm donor.
Romain to his doctor: "Last night I dreamed I had sex with you. It was both sweet and sensual. It's strange; you're not my type at all. In my dreams I'll sleep with anyone -- my mother, my father, even myself as a child. Guess I'm trying to do it all before I die."
LOVE!
He calls his sister, and after they hang up we see that in fact he's right nearby, sitting under a tree, and he gets up and begins to walk out of the shadow toward her (wow, the heavy symbolism of that didn't quite hit me until now) and she moves toward/for her child (again with the symbolism) and so he turns away.
The flashbacks were a little weird because I couldn't always quite tell just how much was real. The scene in the church was the biggest example of that. The little boy kissing the other one on the cheek is one of my favorite scenes in this film. The blonde boy kisses the dark-haired boy on the cheek and runs away and the brunette looks so awkward/unsure and Romain cries. And then we have the next scene and I realize, "Is the blonde boy Sasha [his ex]?" (Corollary: "Have they been together that long?").
Romain is of course unable to tell Sasha that he's dying either. The craving for human contact definitely reminded me of A Year Without Love. I liked that Sasha refused. We are unsurprised that after that rejection Romain went back to the couple.
I wasn't expecting the threesome. V. tender -- and of course Romain was primarily interested in the guy, who was primarily interested in his wife. Played v. well.
And v. nice touch: Romain willing his estate to the kid.
I liked that the ending was just a sort of fadeaway. (And nice touch with it being the beach, with the whole "You should get more sun" comment from whomever earlier in the film.)
Oh, and I watched this largely because it was the only queer film in the festival, but I really liked that the fact that he was gay was entirely a non-issue.
I was reminded of A Year Without Love. [Which I still need to post about. I am obscenely behind, I know.]
An IMDb reviewer said, "gorgeous title, I feel obliged to emphasize this," so I used the dictionary.com translator on it. "The Time which remains." I like this title better than "Time to Leave." "Time to Leave" is wholly unmemorable (to me, at least) whereas "The Time Which Remains" is v. much what the film is about -- Romain doing what he will with the time which remains left to him.
From the MFA blurb: "Romain is never sanctified or made heroic, and the reconciliations he makes are with himself rather than with others." (Description adapted from the London Film Festival. )
His grandmother is the first person he actually tells. To her question of why:
"Because you're like me; you're going to die soon."
Grandmother on all the supplements etc. she takes:
"With all this, I'll die in perfect health."
"You're sweet; I wish we'd met sooner; I'd have married you." (Romain and grandmother)
I felt bad for the waitress when Romain left the first time -- I wanted to take her aside and say, "It's nothing to do with you; he's gay, and rather mean, and dying," but then she shows back up and is married and I was all, "Bzuh?"
"My husband... we both think you're handsome."
I loved that they wanted him to be a sperm donor.
Romain to his doctor: "Last night I dreamed I had sex with you. It was both sweet and sensual. It's strange; you're not my type at all. In my dreams I'll sleep with anyone -- my mother, my father, even myself as a child. Guess I'm trying to do it all before I die."
LOVE!
He calls his sister, and after they hang up we see that in fact he's right nearby, sitting under a tree, and he gets up and begins to walk out of the shadow toward her (wow, the heavy symbolism of that didn't quite hit me until now) and she moves toward/for her child (again with the symbolism) and so he turns away.
The flashbacks were a little weird because I couldn't always quite tell just how much was real. The scene in the church was the biggest example of that. The little boy kissing the other one on the cheek is one of my favorite scenes in this film. The blonde boy kisses the dark-haired boy on the cheek and runs away and the brunette looks so awkward/unsure and Romain cries. And then we have the next scene and I realize, "Is the blonde boy Sasha [his ex]?" (Corollary: "Have they been together that long?").
Romain is of course unable to tell Sasha that he's dying either. The craving for human contact definitely reminded me of A Year Without Love. I liked that Sasha refused. We are unsurprised that after that rejection Romain went back to the couple.
I wasn't expecting the threesome. V. tender -- and of course Romain was primarily interested in the guy, who was primarily interested in his wife. Played v. well.
And v. nice touch: Romain willing his estate to the kid.
I liked that the ending was just a sort of fadeaway. (And nice touch with it being the beach, with the whole "You should get more sun" comment from whomever earlier in the film.)
Oh, and I watched this largely because it was the only queer film in the festival, but I really liked that the fact that he was gay was entirely a non-issue.