Gérard and Hélène are set to begin a new life together in Argentina. But at the last minute, Gérard decides to separate and leaves his partner stranded at the airport. Unwilling to turn to her sister and emotionally traumatised, the abandoned Hélène makes the airport her home. She earns money by soliciting and strikes up a friendship with a café worker Marco. It is a precarious lifestyle but she has mastered her dependency on men - or has she?

Astonishingly, this powerful film went almost unnoticed when it was released in France in the summer of 2000. Fortunately, it has enjoyed a second lease of life following Dominique Blanc's Best Actress award win at the 2001 Césars ceremony, just as director Roch Stéphanik was awarded the prestigious Cyril Collard prize for direction. It is now considered as one of the foremost French dramas of recent years.

Stand-by takes a familiar theme, the breakdown of a relationship between a strong male partner and a dependent female partner, and traces the resulting trauma experienced by the latter in coming to terms with her abandonment. All this takes place - remarkably - within the oppressive mausoleum of Orly airport in Paris, providing a suitably surreal and disturbing backdrop to one woman's psychological collapse and subsequent reconstruction.

The element that marks this film most is Dominique Blanc's outstanding performance; she shows a remarkable range in what is an incredibly demanding role, appearing alternately vulnerable and dangerously seductive as the child and the tiger, and always with the utmost conviction. The cinematography is also noteworthy - upon experiencing Stand By's haunting and menacing spacious neon-lit setting and the activities that take place within it, you will never consider airports in the same way again.

2000 France (125 min.)

Directed by Rock Stéphanik
Writing Credits: Rock Stéphanik
Cast: Dominique Blanc, Roshdy Zem, Patrick Catalifo, Jean Luc Bideau
Distributed by: Diaphana films.