Leaving Everything 1.8 - A Wonderful Desire

Leaving Everything - A Wonderful Desire

Director : Marielle Heller

Writer : Ann Morrow

Based on the novel by Anais Barbeau-Lavalette

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Robin Tunney, Tobey Maguire, Lance Henriksen, Alan Ford, Blythe Danner, Zoe Kravitz and Marissa Jaret Winokur

Plot: The bus carrying Suzanne (Rebecca Hall) and her new friend Daisy (Zoe Kravitz) stops in Washington D.C. and Daisy says this is where she gets off. Suzanne, still chasing her dream of freedom, decides to follow Daisy, as she doesn’t know when to stop and, according to her inner voice, the farther the better. Daisy is disgruntled that Suzanne is following and she keeps telling her that she won’t like where she’s going, but Suzanne holds on to her point and keeps following Daisy. The walk across the American capital and Daisy points another bus with her finger and says this is where she’s going. Suzanne notices that the words Freedom Riders are written on the side of the bus and she says this is perfect, she’s chasing freedom. Daisy looks at her worryingly, she’s not chasing freedom if she follows her. She’s not ready for what’s ahead.

During this time, back in Quebec, Marcel comes out of a a building with an envelope in his hand. He gets to the nearby restaurant and he orders a coffee in his booth. His hand shakes as he opens the envelope containing his official divorce paper. Suzanne disappeared long enough for her to be declared legally dead and he seized the opportunity to divorce her, so he can start his life again. He reads the paper grating him his freedom and he’s ready to start a new chapter of his life. He buys a train ticket, but not for the United States.

Suzanne and Daisy sit on the multiracial Freedom Riders bus and people are tense. They look outside through the windows and a mob throws things at the bus, prompting the driver to accelerate and to get on the freeway. Everyone is on the edge of their seats, looking around, not understanding what just happened. The bus passes a billboard on the side of the highway, telling them that Birmingham is 10 miles away.

Anna (Robin Tunney) helps Marcel (Alan Ford) get up and she sits him on a chair, offering him water, but he declines. He says he failed as a dad and he regretted his decision ever since. She asks him what’s he talking about and he tells the story of what happened when he visited his sister for the last time…

 

Marcel gets off the train and walks to his sister’s house. He walks around a little bit and wanders around the house. He hesitates a little to knock on the door and he finally decides not to. Helene (Marissa Jaret Winokur) sees him, opens the door and calls his name. He turns around and he tells her that it was a mistake coming here. She says that New York changed him, he doesn’t even look healthy now. She asks him if she wants to see Marge and Francis but he turns around panicking, telling her, again, that coming here was a mistake. She tells him that she misses her brother and that he has changed for the worse, but that’s too late, because Marcel left as quickly as he arrived. 

 

 Suzanne and Daisy are nervous, because the Freedom Riders bus is scheduled to protest in Birmingham and the riders are more and more nervous about what’s going to happen to them as soon as they step out of that bus, as they saw earlier today. The music stops around them and we hear Suzanne breathing. She looks around her and see Dis hugging her friends. She wonders what she got herself into. The picture turns black and white and Suzanne frantically looks around as she is pushed out of the bus. The Freedom Riders in front of her hold hand in protest. A crowd gathered to confront them and they scream obscenities at the Freedom Riders. The sound is slowly fading and we concentrate on Suzanne’s breath. We get a point of view from her perspective and as the crowd jumps on the Freedom Riders, Suzanne turns around and runs away. She looks back one last time and she sees Daisy trying to fend off a man mauling her and calling for Suzanne’s name. Suzanne runs away and doesn’t look back. It’s not the kind of freedom she wanted. She doesn’t know where to go next and she thinks about the last time she was free, because, after all, that’s what she’s chasing. We get a flashback of her when she was younger, running around in the mud and the rain and it strikes her: home, this is where she’s free and this is where she’s going.

 

Anna asks Marcel why he didn’t want to see his kids and he says that he was ashamed and that he never would have made a good father. He looks at Francis (Lance Henriksen), his son, who, because of him, turned crazy. Marcel’s eyes are watery as he says to Francis that he’s sorry for not being present in his life and that nothing he says can make up for what he did to him. He doesn’t ask him to forgive, he asks him to understand and that’s a lot to ask for. Francis doesn’t really understand the situation, but he senses that Marcel is sad, so he steps forward and leans down to hug him, without saying a world. Anna looks at Marcel and it looks like this hug meant everything for him. She asks Marcel if he ever saw Suzanne again, because after she got back from the US, her diary stops. He says he saw her once and only once and he regrets not keeping in touch with her. He says her grandmother was a special woman and in her eyes, freedom was not having any strings attached, so she spent the rest of her life recluse and that’s why she refused to see his children. She never wrote it, but deep down, she regrets cutting her children from her life and that’s because she told him.

 

An old Suzanne (Blythe Danner) finishes to tell her life story to her former lover, Marcel in an Ottawa coffee. He asks her if she regrets anything, and she says that when she looks back at her life, there’s only one word to describe it: bittersweet. She lived free as a bird, but at the same time, she missed the little things that make most people happy, like seeing her children growing, or sharing your life with a loved one. She tells Marcel that she loved him with all his heart, but her desire of freedom was too strong to continue like that. She loved him and she made that choice, and it’s too late for her to change that. Marcel smiles and he says that it’s not too late, they can still be together. Suzanne gets up and she says that she knows the end is near. She broke his heart once and doesn’t want to break it again. She’s hard to understand, but she’s not cruel.

The talent alone saved barely saves this one. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rebecca Hall squeeze in a nomination due to the lack of a better option and a few other contenders here and there. Let's be honest, the show has been a letdown since the first episode, but it can find a certain audience.

The scenes in Suzanne's past unfortunately have never managed to live up to the levels of intrigue built up in the present day scenes surrounding them. Eight episodes later, I can honestly say I don't feel like I know much more about the character of Suzanne than when the series began. Thankfully, the present day scenes led by Robin Tunney, and a surprisingly effective Lance Henriksen, are a lot more satisfying

The show throughout has had clear talent behind the camera and in front of it (I particularly enjoyed Colm Feore's supporting turn). Unfortunately the story itself lacks a certain quality to make the entire season feel worthwile