#33, 3/28 – Time to Leave (2005) (dvd)
I’ve always had mixed feelings about Francois Ozon’s movies. Truth be told, I’ve never much cared for the finished products, but I’ve liked the ideas behind them (usually) and I have nothing but good things to say about the actors he works with. Most notably, without Ozon I probably would never have found out about Ludivine Sagnier and that right there is a shame.
Still, my record with Ozon was abysmal. Under the Sand, 8 Women, and Swimming Pool were a trio of movies I’d very much wanted to like but, quite honestly, was closer to hating in each case. I skipped 5×2 and thought I would do the same with this movie, but I changed my mind for reasons I’m not quite clear on. And I’m glad I did. I’ve finally found an Ozon movie to like.
It’s based on a simple enough question which has been done in film any number of times (most memorably, for me, by Kurosawa in Ikiru, a movie that totally blew me away when I saw it): What would you do if you found out you had a very short amount of time left to live? The protagonist, Romain, doesn’t necessarily provide the the prettiest, easiest answer you’ll ever see, but Ozon’s treatment feels about right in its humanity. It’s less of an ordeal than Patrice Chereau’s Son Frere, but I also think it’s probably a little less successful in what it’s trying to do and may end up being less memorable. Time will tell, obviously.