Ceux qui restent (2007)
Directed by Anne Le Ny

Film Review

Having exhibited her talents as an actress, in such films as Parlez-moi d'amour (2002) and La Petite Lili (2003), Anne Le Ny makes an impressive directing debut with this unconventional yet compelling romantic drama.  Ceux qui restent offers an interesting variation on a familiar theme: a chance romantic entanglement pumped through the meat grinder of Dostoevskian guilt.  Ny's distinctly unromantic approach to an insuperable amorous infatuation shows itself not only in the narrative - the two protagonists who fall in love have partners who are being treated for a potentially life-threatening illness - but also in the downbeat, matter-of-fact way the story is told.  There is a casual reality to this film which makes it truthful and easy to engage with, and also a lightness of touch that belies its potentially grim subject matter.

Anne Le Ny not only directed and wrote the film, she also has a significant supporting role in it.  However, in common with all of the other supporting artistes, Ny's presence on screen is scarcely noticed, so greatly is our attention monopolised by the two remarkable lead actors, Emmanuelle Devos and Vincent Lindon.  As laudable as Ny's own contribution is, the film would not have been half as good without such a strong pair of leads to grab our attention and draw out the nuances in Ny's excellent screenplay.  This is not the first time Lindon and Devos have played opposite one another - they previously appeared together in Emmanuel Carrère's La Moustache (2005), an altogether different film.  Here they make a perfect match, the brooding introspection of Lindon's Bertrand clashing with the forced joie de vivre of Devos's Lorraine to expose two very sensitive and brittle souls.

In most romantic dramas, the romantic impulse is usually portrayed as something good, a liberating, life-affirming force of nature.  In Ceux qui restent, it is quite the opposite, a kind of disease which is as destructive and hard to resist as the illnesses that are afflicting the protagonists' respective partners (who, interestingly, are never revealed to us).  Neither Bertrand nor Lorraine appears to derive any pleasure from their illicit romance, and both are visibly weighed down by the burden of guilt, a guilt which swells and ultimately destroys their relationship.  What makes things worse is that neither character is capable of showing what he or she really feels.  They accept their mutual attraction, are clearly tormented by it, and cannot prevent it from wreaking havoc on their emotional lives.  Like a cancer, the damage is entirely beneath the surface, and so the sickness worsens.  By the time the characters realise what has happened to them, it is too late.  In the final touching minutes of the film, we know that Bertrand and Lorraine will be forever scarred by what they have experienced, but each has a family to support them and so life goes on - the tumour has been plucked from their hearts.

Film Synopsis

On one of his frequent visits to the hospital where his wife is being treated for breast cancer, Bertrand meets a young woman, Loraine, whose partner is also seriously ill.  The two realise they have much in common, in particular a sense of guilt that they should be the ones who are spared whilst their loved ones suffer from a terrible illness.  They see each other more often and soon realise that they can help each other through the worst crisis of their lives...