Nelly's husband is the perfect mate but she only wants to have sex with a drunken ex-con called Loulou in 1980's Loulou. Isabelle Huppert and Gerard Depardieu star as Nelly and Loulou, both giving unrestrained performances which are charming because they're both so cute. The cinematography is beautiful and well composed to pair nicely with free-wheeling direction and editing.
Nelly goes to a disco with Andre (Guy Marchand), her husband. He also owns the advertising agency at which she works. They see Loulou at the disco and he and Nelly become quickly enraptured with each other.
Theirs is a relationship of few words but of a lot of sex and giggling. She doesn't make much of an effort to hide the fact that she and Loulou start spending most of their time in a hotel room. Andre tries to be cool with it at first, to be modern.
For all this picture's nonchalance, it does intend to be a commentary on post-'60s sexual mores. Loulou and Nelly's hazy future plans when she gets pregnant by him make you wonder if a firmer marital institution would have been better for Nelly. Or is it okay for her to just get an abortion and for the two to keep happily boinking until their money runs out? And then what?
Loulou doesn't seem to spare a lot of thought for to-morrow. He does have a sense of honour, which he displays when beating up Andre after he sees him getting rough with Nelly. It's curious the film is named for his character since all the dramatic decisions revolve around Nelly. But what is to be done about a Loulou? Maybe some guys just exist to sexually please a few people before meeting a violent and/or embarrassing death somewhere, somehow. The movie makes it seem more romantic than that. Good cinematography and cute stars will do that.
Loulou is available on The Criterion Channel.
No comments:
Post a Comment