Born in 1946 Bonitzer had just entered his teens when the much-vaunted Nouvelle Vague had its moment in the sun and clearly it left a mark on an impressionable mind because Bonitzer's day job used to be penning reviews for Cahiers du Cinema, the infamous breeding-ground of Truffaut, Godard and their cronies. Further, Bonitzer clearly thinks it clever to take top post-Nouvelle Vague talents like Jean-Pierre Bacri, Claude Rich, Isabelle Carre and Kristen Scott Thomas and saddle them with a Nouvelle Vague type plot, six parts pretentiousness to three parts gobbledygook. The whole thing is shrouded in a bizarre non-colour as if Bonitzer couldn't quite justify shooting in the black-and-white stock of choice of the new waveleteers but at the same time couldn't quite bring himself to shoot in decent colour. Actors of this calibre will always triumph over merde but unless you are a die-hard fan of one or more of the leading actors give this one a miss.
Review of Looking for Hortense
