Lebenswut

This 1986 film is the first from Olivier Assayas from his own script and if there are echoes of the work of Eric Rohmer, this is still an impressive debut. The writing is good and the direction solid, if somewhat lacking in the wondrous visuals we will come to expect. A group of youngsters, seemingly from rather well off backgrounds have a struggling rock band in the post punk era. We hear a couple of New Order tracks to help set the mood and the film's title may be another reference. To a non French observer the kids seem far too introspective and overly concerned about who sleeps with who to really make it in the cut and thrust world they suggest they want to be a part of but it is engaging enough and different enough to hold the attention. It is certainly good enough to make the subsequent directorial career of Mr Assayas inevitable and most welcome.

A group of young musicians burglarizes a shop and they kill a man."And now,the audience thinks,the police are going to investigate and they are gonna try to get away with it."And no,it is not so.

Olivier Assayas doesn't do what the viewer expects: no policeman appears in the whole movie,the boys and the girl are left with their remorse ,and their thoughts,although they try not to speak of it and to continue their burgeoning musical career .Their manager (Etienne Chicot ) gets them signed to CBS -which is a bit far-fetched ,for their music is rather derivative ,with the exception of the final cut recorded in NYC where one of the musicians is given the Pete Best treatment.-

"Desorder" :the movie is aptly titled;but,in spite of relatively violent scenes,it's a psychological disorder ;my favorite scene is the funeral with the two boys speaking in the graveyard ,and discovering they have nothing more to tell each other.