A Tout de Suite
Four nameless people are brought together by crime and circumstances in this visually striking drama. A naïve young woman (Isild Le Besco) who studies art and lives with her wealthy family goes to a nightclub one evening and meets a mysterious young man of Moroccan heritage (Ouassini Embarek). The two are immediately attracted to one another, and spend the night together. Not long afterward, the woman gets a phone call from her new lover, who has disturbing news -- he's in the midst of a bank robbery that's gone wrong, and several of his accomplices have been shot by the police. The woman offers to hide the man from the authorities, and he soon arrives with the only member of his crew to made it out alive (Nicolas Duvauchelle). They spend the night hiding out with the young woman, and the next morning, the accomplice's girl (Laurence Cordier) joins the party as the foursome leave France for Spain. However, the thieves and their women don't take well to exile; personality clashes arise, and they discover that the stolen money is more readily identifiable than they imagined. more..
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Starring: Isild Le Besco, Ouassini Embarek, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Laurence Cordier, Fotini Kodoukaki
It's hard to imagine many films surpassing or even equaling the effect of this supple, breathtakingly direct, small French film.
The downbeat story unfolds in quick, incisive slashes in which the combination of minimal dialogue and gorgeous black-and-white photography lends the movie a chilly documentary realism.
An exceptionally perceptive film about what it's like to be 19 years old.
One of those rich girl/bad boy things that defy understanding and leave you on the outside. Fascinated, but on the outside.
Like all of Jacquot's movies, it's not crazy enough.
Antoine Platteau
Gijón International Film Festival (2004)
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