Le Temps qui Reste (Time to Leave)

What would you do if you are young, successful and attractive and one day a doctor tells you that you are terminally ill and will die in a few months? This movie gives us a quiet and touching answer to this question.

This François Ozon film shows us Romain’s last days in this drama about death and is the second installment of a trilogy about death, that started with Sous Le Sable. Death is and will never be an easy subject to see in movies and here perhaps due to the great Melvil Poupaud performance and the fabulous supporting role by Jeanne Moreau (yes, she’s here and she’s superb) the ride is soft and a little less hard to see it in the screen.

Maybe the choices Romain makes seem rude, as he dismisses his male lover, fights with his sister, separates himself from others and chose to be alone, but is a credible reaction when you do not want to have love ones near you suffering for you. And perhaps his decision to leave something in the world to be remember for, seems harsh and cliché for some, especially when he’s a gay man. But the voyage that Romain takes is very credible with all the choices he made and with his transformation while riding his fate. The must touching scenes for me are when Romain goes to visit his grandmother, played by Jeanne Moreau and the dialogue between them stuck many nails in me.

The story is powerful but the movie is also extremely well constructed and directed, has nice cinematography and gorgeous absence of words that allow expressions to communicate everything.

The movie won the Silver Spike to François Ozon and the Best Actor to Melvil Poupaud in the 2005 Valladolid International Film Festival.

Not for all audiences, you have to like French films and be prepared for a strong ride into decisions that we all hope never to make.