Reviews

One of the last classics of the French New Wave. For direction, cineaste Jean Eustache drew from the simplicity of early-century cinema; for story, Eustache drew on the torments of his own complicated love life. So many things can be said of this film - observationally brilliant; self indulgently overlong; occasionally hilarious; emotionally draining...etc. etc. In my mind, whatever complaints that can be leveled against this film are easily overshadowed by its numerous strengths. Every film student, writer, or simply anyone willing to handle a 3 hour film with no abrupt cuts, no music video overstyling, no soap opera-like plot twists, and no banal dialogue should make it a point to see this movie. Everything is to be admired: the writing (concise, clever, surprisingly funny), acting (everyone, quite simply, is perfect in their respective roles), and, simple direction (the viewer feels like a casual observer within the film) make this film unforgettable. This is undoubtedly a film that stays with you.

If you're in the States, it seems there's a 99% chance you won't get a chance to see this consistently entertaining film, save for the outside possibility it's shown in a big-city arthouse theater. As you might've read from the description above, it concerns Marc (a typically charming, uncharacteristically manic Jean-Pierre Leaud), an automobile-obsessed young hairdresser in Brussels struggling to obtain money needed to finance the car he needs for an upcoming race. With no assistance from his coworkers, Marc enlists the help of Michele, the loyal girlfriend he keeps at arm's length (the likeable Catherine Duport) not only because of his immaturity, but his single-minded focus on car racing. As the earlier commentator said, a main reason for seeing this film is the charismatic presence of Leaud (it seems a tailor-made film for him), but another draw is the quiet intelligence Duport exudes, and the film's markedly mid-60's style. Krzysztof Komeda's energetic, jazz-tinged score is conspicuous yet completely relevant. Jerzy Skolimowski managed to craft a funny, modish, and assured film in a language that he apparently didn't even speak! Certainly worth a viewing, if you get the chance.

Made with leftover film given to him by Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Eustache interwove the stock from the former director's 'Masculin/Feminin' with his own 52-minute study of a group of young men in a small French province and their attempts to earn money and meet girls. Jean-Pierre Leaud (who starred in both films) is Daniel, the protagonist/narrator. As in the Doinel films by Truffaut, Leaud acts as a sort of alter ego figure for Eustache. Desperate to buy a stylish winter coat, Daniel accepts a local photographer's offer to dress up as a sidewalk Santa Claus to pose for photos with passerby. Once his identity is concealed in costume, Daniel discovers, the town's inhabitants treat him far differently; namely, attention from the girls who'd earlier brushed him off. An amusing document of a few days in the life of small-town French youth.