Les amants réguliers (2005)

English title: Regular Lovers.

Synopsis: François is a student in Paris in 1968. He takes part in the revolt of May. He is a poet, and he and his group of friends gravitate around Antoine, a rich friend who provides them drugs and lodging (and lounging too). François meets a beautiful aspiring sculptress and the two start a relationship.

Appraisal: Quite absorbing as a chronicle of a certain period; it is also a melancholically poetical love story. The black and white cinematography is stunning, and lends the film a compelling physicality. I don't know how true the film is to the real events, but, judging from it, May 1968 was a predominantly male event. Notice how, when these people get together, the guys are always having lively discussions about politics, while the girls sit passively, apart from the guys; when they talk, it is mostly about boyfriends and such. Shame about the subtitles, though: they are white and vanish on white scenes; I caught up with some of the missed dialogue after the film, by reading it on a subtitles file.

Rating: 67