Philippe Garrel, now in his 60s, is semi-famous for being semi-obscure, even in France, though he remains one of the last stragglers to have fallen under the New Wave umbrella. (When he was 20, he trailed Godard, who in Jonathan Rosenbaum's phrase "virtually adopted him in May '68, when both were cruising the Latin Quarter student demonstrations with their cameras.") Here, Garrel had to wait until "Regular Lovers" (2005) for a film of his to find stateside distribution. But it's a small wonder: Garrel's career project is resolutely personal and self-examining, to a degree that makes Cassavetes and even Godard look like rangy entertainers. His approach is observational and so intimate you begin to sweat the bell jar effect of the locations. Garrel's life has been tumultuous -- including a decade spent with Nico, making impromptu experimental films and doing heroin, on and off Ibiza -- and it's his life that's onscreen,...
- 5/26/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
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