6.5/10
Coming off the 5-hour Che, Olivier Assayas' new film at first blush seems to be plunged right back into the world of revolutionary politics - this time in 1970's France. Indeed, it's heavy-handed on the politics to a fault, especially once the focus moves away from that and onto the young student Gilles. Gilles, initially passionate about student rights and anti-corruption (his activities range from printing up incendiary pamphlets to hurling Molotov cocktails), slowly finds himself pulled in several directions. He bounces between two girls - one even more fiercely activist than he, another the complete muted opposite - in addition to pursuing his drawing and painting. Gilles becomes increasingly disenfranchised - by the politics within the ranks of his own allies, by his inability to reconcile his political beliefs with his need for a job in the "system" to further his art career, by the two girls in his life. The film takes a long, roundabout way to get to where it's going, and it's not always enjoyable watching it do so. By the end it becomes evident that Gilles is at least in some way an avatar for Assayas himself, and the film feels perhaps too personal or introverted to fully connect.
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