La Séparation (1994) - film review

Pierre and Anne have been living as a couple for some time. They share a flat and have a two-year old child, Loulou.  Then, one day, Pierre senses a sudden coldness in their relationship.  Gradually, things deteriorate and Anne finally admits that she is seeing another man.  Although it is what he had been expecting, Pierre can hardly take the news in.  His world has been destroyed, and the only way out is a separation.

This is a melancholic and exquisitely perceptive analysis of the disintegration of a relationship.  The film manages to evoke – without histrionics or sentimentality – the pain and upset which comes to the fore when a couple decide to separate.

For such an emotionally intense, personal drama, director Christian Vincent could not have done better in his choice of lead actors.  Both Isabelle Huppert and Daniel Auteuil are magnificent, proving that they are amongst France’s finest.  There is a cruel, unspeakable tragedy in the situation of their characters which the two actors manage to capture brilliantly.  Huppert and Auteuil have a genuine on-screen rapport which Vincent uses to perfection.   The scenes where we see an introspective Auteuil, alone and confused, have a genuine emotional impact and make this one of the most captivating and moving films of this kind in recent years.

© James Travers 1999

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