Love Me No More

Jean Becker's film opens on a man of about forty who has everything required for happiness: a beautiful wife, two children, loyal friends, a house in the Yvelines, money. Over one weekend Antoine, played by Albert Dupontel, decides to demolish all of it. He insults his wife, humiliates his friends, drives everyone away. The structure is laid out like a riddle but does not keep its secret long; most viewers work out the reason for Antoine's behaviour within twenty minutes. That has been held against the film. It also exposes what the film is really about, which is not surprise but a man's calculated act of destruction, undertaken to spare the people he loves the work of mourning him. Marie-Josée Croze plays his wife, and Pierre Vaneck the father who appears in the closing section. Who it is for: viewers who like quiet French drama built on performance. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a twist, or who will find the subject of death and leave-taking heavy.