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MOVIE #1,064 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 07.14.23 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝙻𝙰𝙸𝚁𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝙽𝙸𝚂 (𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑: [𝚍ə𝚗𝚒];) 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙾𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝙲𝚄𝚂 This short feature (clocking in at just north of an hour) was part of a French TV anthology series where different directors were tasked with “creating an episode about the coming of age of young people during one of the past few decades, accompanied by music of that period.” It was easily my favorite thing Denis has done thus far. I don’t know how they got the music rights, but the soundtrack featuring over a dozen rock n’ roll classics from the American 60s is one of the reasons why this clicked with me. It’s a simple story: a couple of young female friends go to a party in an attempt to lose their virginity accompanied by a reluctant, brooding older brother.

It gets a tad incesty for a hot second. Perhaps, the short run-time was also a major reason why this worked for me: there was simply less time for Denis to meander (which is not normally something I don’t like, but I’ve struggled with that aspect in her early work).

And then there’s Vincent Gallo. This marks his second collab with the director after 1991’s 40-minute film, Keep It for Yourself. Perhaps, it’s no coincidence that these have been my two favorite movies by the French auteur to date. The dude is just captivating. His nervous, embattled energy just pops with every line read…


And here that mode also works as the perfect counterpoint to the cocky Frenchmen who our protagonist rebuffs at the party. The bigger picture narrative of the post-war American military presence in Paris is a lovely, subtle backdrop to the story. The young people want nothing to do with the U.S., but they can’t resist their hot tunes. Everything is as simple and/or as complicated as your sense of self wants it to be. I guess this is growing up.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,063 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,065 ⫸

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In the sixties, in a suburb near Paris, Martine wants to lose her virginity. It was released on October 28, 1994.