Les Gauloises bleues

The film is a monument of its time. Cournot's unique (also in the sense that it is the only directorial work by the author) intellectual film style could be described by comparing it to other greats: it is a combination of Godard's discontinuous editing and parallel montage of the late 60s, surrealistic resemblances in the style of late Buñuel, and Resnais and Robbe-Grillet's games with repetition of scenes and time loops through flashforwards. But the film is not just a compilation of its inspirations because it is a distinctive, although sometimes a bit unfinished (especially the camera, which is forgivable for a debut) artistic work that is difficult to decipher due to its typically European art narration. It is worth mentioning the hiding of meanings and messages in the diegetic space and generally in the mise-en-scène, which complements the play of meanings and associations through non-diegetic editing, and so on. The content must also be combined with a second layer of meanings (consisting of political testimonies, general contemplation of the course of modern European society, and not least the significant play of formal procedures). Cournot presents us with a version of a dehumanized dystopian future, combining the worst of both worlds of the time, namely the pervasive ruthless capitalist relationships of the West in conjunction with the arbitrary authoritarian bureaucracy of the East, against the backdrop of which the struggle of marginalized individuals for simple human happiness takes place. (21/04/2015)