27. Lover For A Day (L'amant d'un jour); movie review

LOVER FOR A DAY (L'AMANT D'UN JOUR)
Cert 15
76 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong sex, nudity

Ah, a love story with the sensuality, style and je ne sais quoi which can only be served up by the French.
Lover For A Day is set in the present but aims to recreate the agony of affairs in a 60s new wave-style.
By and large it succeeds but, in my opinion, its outward beauty definitely outweighs its substance.
Philippe Garrel's film stars Eric Caravaca as a lecturer who is living with one of his students (Louise Chevillotte).
Interestingly, the lecturer is not portrayed as a dirty old man. Instead, his student admits she threw herself at him and goes on to fulfil her insatiable lust by having spontaneous sex with fellow under-graduates.
Yes, Chevillotte's character Ariane likes sex... a lot. And between the deep and meaningful conversations with her boyfriend, she is throwing herself at other men.
Meanwhile, she is having to console her boyfriend's daughter (Esther Garrel) who is desolate after splitting up with her fella.
It is interesting that without the smooth artistic monochrome presentation, Lover For A Day could have been seen as tawdry and sleazy. However, is good looks manage to smooth out its potentially rough edges.
Anyone who has ever suffered a split would appreciate that Garrel is right on the money when it comes to the residual hurt and it seems very harsh that his real-life daughter Esther should be the one who portrays the most trauma during his movie.
She goes through those oh-so-recognisable phases of despair and desperation, trying to hang on to slithers of hope that reconciliation may be possible.
Meanwhile, her on-screen father is outwardly liberal and easy going but finds himself facing similar emotions. In parallel she is trying to contain the jealousy she has for her father's erratic lover.
The characters are well-drawn and the movie is elegant but my problem with Lover For A Day was that it was too downbeat.
If love was as hard as Garrel makes out, why would anyone fall for it? What would be the point?
In fact, there is a joy which can often, but not always, be tempered with sadness or even agony. Garrel has only reflected the latter.
In his defence, his film is less than 80 minutes so at least he doesn't wallow in the misery for too long.

Reasons to watch: its 60s-style presentation
Reasons to avoid: it's style certainly outweighs its substance

Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: yes
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director's quote - Philippe Garrel: "In Lover For A Day, I wanted to deal with the Electra complex, the female counterpart of the Oedipus complex, although they are not perfectly symmetrical."

The big question - what do French actresses think about the about of nudity demanded from them in movies

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