En marge des jours (2007 TV Movie)
A man divided in two
6 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
An interesting proposal in this made for television film that was shown recently on a French international channel. Claude, a man of a certain age, who has found happiness at last with a much younger woman, suffers a terrible accident which almost kills him. Legally in limbo, the wife he abandoned, Sandrine, is called to his bedside to deal with the tragedy that unfolds, leaving Julie out of the picture. Julie the mother of Claude's six year old son, is left to fend for herself. She must fight for her right to be next to the man that might not even recover from the wounds and memory loss caused by the crash.

We are given glimpses of how Claude met Julie during a business trip. Claude, a married man with two children with Sandrine, leaves them to set a home in a distant place with Julie. Sandrine, on the other hand, sees the opportunity to gain back the man she lost, even though he might never recuperate himself from the accident that leaves him in a coma after all that was done to save his life.

For all appearances, Sandrine appears to be get along with Julie, but she maneuvers herself to only include pictures of Claude's former family life in the process of recuperation. According to the hospital Julie has no claims to Claudee because as far as they are concerned, Sandrine is officially still his wife. Julie has to fight back to get the man she loves.

Based on a true story, this television film was directed by Emmanuel Finkiel, who adapted the original material by Julie Reynal, the real Julie of this drama. What surprises from the film is that it is something that could happen anywhere. The two women behave as expected of them, something that with another creator might have developed in a free for all battle of wits.

The director got excellent acting from Michelle Laroque, who plays Julie. Ms. Laroque plays Julie with dignity, standing by the man she adores. The wonderful Dominique Raymond appears as Sandrine, the abandoned wife. Wladimir Yordanoff is Claude, the man between the two women.
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