Les Amants réguliers

Les Amants réguliers
Dir: Philippe Garrel [2005]

May 1968.  The streets of Paris are ablaze as students and riot police unwittingly re-enact the famous barricade scene from Les Misèrables .One of these students is François Dervieux, a 20 year-old student, idealist and aspiring poet, who, along with his opium-smoking friends, has taken up the revolutionary cause.  At a party, he meets Lilie, a young sculptor who seems to share his ideals and with whom he falls madly in love…

Les Amants réguliers is director Philippe Garrel’s interpretation of the turbulent events of May 1968, informed by his own pretty “hands on” experiences of the time.Adopting the cinematic style of the great French New Wave directors (notably Eustache, Godard and Rivette), Garrel succeeds in transporting us back to the late 1960s, to a period of great social and political upheaval, and also one of great artistic release. The film’s two principal actors – Louis Garrel (the director’s talented son) and Clotilde Hesme bear more than a passing resemblance to two of the most prominent icons of the New Wave movement, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Anna Karina.Meanwhile, William Lubtchansky’s beautiful black-and-white cinematography creates the illusion that the film is a genuine product of the era in which it is set.



As a homage to the French New Wave and for its neo-realist depiction of the 1968 riots, the film does have a lot going for it. However, Les Amants réguliers cannot be described as a film that is easy to watch, and it certainly is not in the same league as the films whose style it emulates.Copying one great piece of art doesn’t guarantee that what you get will be another great piece of art.  Whilst Les Amants réguliers perfectly captures the style and form of a great piece of 1960s French cinema, it somehow fails to convey the essence and raw poetry that made such films so great.So, whereas Jean Eustache’s four-hour long La Maman et la putain (1973) is an absorbing work of great artistic genius and humanity, Les Amants réguliers, at just under three hours, feels largely inconsequential, ponderous and a tad over-pretentious.Garrel’s appropriation of some of the New Wave techniques – such as Jean-Juc Godard’s device of actors talking to camera in an improvised manner – feel contrived and tedious, whilst his use of protracted long shots seems calculated to test the patience of the spectator to the absolute limit.