SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

paul2001sw-1 Kristen Scott Thomas is excellent in 'Leaving', a traumatic but excellent film about the break up of a relationship. Much is acutely observed here: the casually indifferent husband who becomes a monster when crossed; the affair, depicted without moral judgement, that attains unexpected emotional significance because of the previously hidden fault-lines it exposes; the sex scenes, unusually effective, in which much is conveyed through the pattern of breath. Plus there's a luscious (but sensitive) soundtrack, and Scott Thomas's brilliant performance as a woman gradually losing her grip on first happiness, and then sanity. The ending is subtly different to the one first suggested: that it is a happier one is unclear in a dark tale.

jnr83 Basically this movie is about an adulteress who has forgotten about the covenant she made with her husband and lusts after another man. The husband like any good husband is jealous to see his wife in the arms of another man and makes life hard for the adulteress and her fornicator. Others saw the husband's actions as callous, however, I view the husband's actions as those which come out of jealousy. I thought the acting was very good with Kristin Scott Thomas doing an exceptional job as the wife committing adultery. I tended to sympathize with the husband in this movie as which husband can just sit back and allow his wife to be in another man's arms. That God given jealousy was evident in this movie and I think that all husbands' whose wives have cheated on them can sympathize with the message of this movie. JNR

jotix100 Suzanne, the wife of Samuel, a French doctor, seems to have it all. Not being completely happy with her life, she decides to go back to work in the field of physiotherapy. For that purpose, the house in a suburb of Nimes, in Southern France, must be fixed so she can have her own space. The renovation is going to be done by a Spanish worker, Ivan, who knows what to do. Everything seems to be progressing well, but Suzanne is instrumental in an injury to Ivan. Feeling guilty about it, she volunteers to bring him to his home across the border, so he can see his daughter. Suzanne is taken with the atmospheric surrounding and suddenly she begins differently about the hired hand she employed. They begin a passionate love affair that destroys her marriage to Samuel, even at the expense of losing her two children. Suzanne, shows character when she confesses her love for Ivan to a husband that does not want to hear about her sexual relations to a man that he feels is not worthy of her. Suzanne, being English, shows a decent attitude by coming clean. Samuel, who wants to keep her, in spite of her having cheated on him, has a surprise coming because he did not think what a woman in love can do to get her way.Catherine Corsini gives this film a better production that probably was not in the screenplay by Gael Mace. She shows an affinity for making the viewer get involved in all that is happening, although sometimes it is hard for a woman in Suzanne's position to throw everything away in exchange for an uncertain life with a man that is obviously not in her same class. Ah, well, it all for the sake of love. Ms. Corsini shows good judgment in trusting cinematographer Agnes Godard to work wonders with the magical light of Southern France.The main attraction for watching "Leaving" is Kristin Scott Thomas, a versatile actress that has been working a lot in France. One cannot blame her when she gets juicier parts like her Suzanne in this movie. Wonderful Sergi Lopez plays another one of his hunks. His Ivan shows he is a decent man that has fallen for the forbidden woman out of his league. Yvan Attal plays Samuel, the deceived husband.

Jonathan Carr Although this is a simple story it's a powerful illustration of an abusive relationship which leads to tragedy. We all know that many, many marriages are abusive, and financial control of women is a primary instrument for keeping them in line. Since Kristen Scott Thomas is beautiful and fragile (and she is far more attractive in French) we sympathize with her plight as she falls for a man without money and chooses to leave her husband, who is wealthy. The situation brings out the ugliness in them both, and the story proceeds to its horrible end. Hollywood would not have made this, because its not complex enough, but perhaps what the film says is that some aspects of life are unchanging. It reminds us of the feminist mantra that men actually despise women. Germaine Greer has been trying to tell people to remember this fact since the 1960s. It reminds us that power relationships are ugly when people push against them, like Rosa Parks on the bus, or a slave murdering his owner and being hanged for a 'crime'. In fact, this is a disturbing film, looking directly at territory that most entertainment glosses over.