L'Homme qui a perdu son ombre
1991 Comedy / Drama
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Credits
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Summary
Suffering from a creative block, a writer, Paul, walks away from his wife and job and
hides away in a remote Spanish resort in the hope of regaining his inspiration.
He spends his time touring the desert on his motorbike and philosophising with an older
man, Antonio, who fought in the Spanish civil war. Unable to account for Paul’s
behaviour, his wife, Anne, contacts his former girlfriend Maria and persuades her to help
find Paul and persuade him to return. When the two women suddenly re-appear in his
life, Paul is far from pleased...
Review
The austere setting for this romantic drama serves to underscore the barren nature of
the plot and its weak characterisation - a rare disappointment from acclaimed Swiss director
Alain Tanner. Although beautifully filmed in places, it is difficult to take an
interest in the somewhat implausible plot and lacklustre dialogue delivered by actors
who are visibly struggling to make any sense of their characters. The film contains
some interesting ideas (such as the need to get the right balance between constructive
solitude and destructive isolation) but few of these are explored as coherently or as
fully as they perhaps might.
© James Travers 2002 Write a review for this film... |
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