Watch Adieu Philippine For Free

the audience applauded

Strong and Moving!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Adieu Philippine" is the only movie from the so pretentious "nouvelle vague" that I really love to see again and again and again. I showed it so many times to friends who agreed with me : funny, fresh, a fine portrait of that early 60's period, and a special mention to the fast editing with lot of exciting 60's music (try to find the record distributed in the theatres at that time). Lot of great laughing moments, nearly "cinéma-vérité" as most of the actors have never shot any other movie : Michel Lambert's scenes working at television, the meal with Michel's family, all the scenes with the publicist played by the fantastic Vittorio Caprioli (who also later directed), the two girl friends of Michel Lambert (but the Italian one is dubbed). All that first part is really exciting, but sadly the second part slows down considerably, losing total interest. But what a first part. Exactly the same with another movie by Jacques Rozier, "Maine Océan" : fantastic first part with Luis Rego, Bernard Menez and the hilarious Yves Afonso, and after, brutal slowdown. Anyway, thank you Jacques Rozier and Jean-Claude Aimini (as Michel Lambert) for that pure moment of cool freshness.

This is a very uneasy amalgam of a satire on the French television industry (the production of a cheap show called Montserrat), a commentary on French society (the dinner scene with Michel's family spouting slogans), and an improbable travelogue on Corsica. Since it does not--could not--hang together to form a unified work, my rating is lower than it might be.The acting is first rate especially the two young women, Liliane and Juliette, who act with an impressive naturalness. Vittorio Caprioli is excellent as the oily and fairly stupid Pachali, a man who promises everything and delivers nothing. I'm left with the feeling that if Jacques Rozier could have kept to a central theme when writing the scenario the movie would have been really memorable, in the way of the first two Doinel films of Truffaut, or Godard's Bande a part.

This is indeed "nouvelle vague" in ways many other films of the time claimed to be but really weren't. The "innocent" onlookers on the side look at the camera, the dialog seems improvised to a large degree and the actors/actresses "introduced" were for the main part never heard from again. There's not really much of a plot as there were in many N.V products and at times it feels invented as it was made. The comedy throughout and the joyful music lighten the restrictions (and making it seem more 'nouvelle vague") but there are several elements just below the surface which are in sharp contrast. Two girls who swore fidelity in friendship are torn apart, the young protagonist is off the fight a very unpopular war, the young man who refuses to talk about his experiences fighting in Algeria... The film survives as an historical document of new ideas in French film-making of the time and as such rather severely dates itself. It's easy to understand why it was so popular when it was made but that fact works against it decades later.

With A bout de Soufflé (and other Godard films), Adieu Philippine is in fact the only film that deserves the 'Nouvelle Vague' label term and that kept the promises of this generation, of a new way to approach cinema. (Truffaut looks very classical in comparison). A real liberation of the cinema's language : variation of feelings, tones (sentimental comedy, Algerian tragedy, boulevard, etc...) on the screen followed by variations of technique's shooting (television, improvisation, etc...), of montage or setting, a jubilating firework as an hymn to joy of life, imagination. For this and other points, Adieu Philippine has the role in French cinematography that in Italy Otto e mezzo may have played though in another way and much more secretly. Rarely characters have been given such importance, such vibration in every day's little things. The close-up on a young 'stupid' girl's despair dancing face to you is one of the numerous unforgettable moments of this still refreshing poem sometimes worried by the threat of death.