La Dérive (1964)
Directed by Paula Delsol

Film Review

This little-known first film from writer Paula Delsol was not well-received when it was released in France in the 1960s.  Thanks partly to its over-18 certification, the film was a commercial failure and Delsol only made one other film, Ben et Bénédict (1977) (although she later did some work for television). La Dérive is very much a film of its time, with many of the characteristics we now associate with the French New Wave: almost exclusive use of natural locations, crude editing, apparently improvisational acting, and no shortage of style. Whilst the film does not have the depth or impact of the films made by Delsol's Nouvelle Vague contemporaries, it forcefully evokes an era when reaction against traditional values (represented by the state and the family) was gaining momentum and when women were beginning to embrace sexual freedom, thanks mainly to more effective means of birth control.

The sumptuous location photography adds to the film's charms, even giving it a neo-realist feel in places, and the jazz soundtrack supplies another layer of poetry and spiritual longing.  There's also a touching irony in this film, in that Jacquie's quest for freedom will inevitably drive her into the trap of wedlock that she is so desperate to avoid.  After all, the only other outcome is a life of meaningless short-term liaisons and disappointments - hardly a happy ending. Pierre Barouh, a popular musician of the 1960s, appears briefly in the film; he is most famous for writing and singing the lyrics of the theme song for Claude Lelouch's Un homme et une femme (1966).

Film Synopsis

In the 1960s, Jacquie is twenty and desperate to escape from her humble background which offers her scant chance of real fulfilment and happiness.  One morning, she turns her back on her home in Paris and sets off for the south of France, in the company of her boyfriend Pierre, a strolling guitar player.  When Pierre suddenly leaves her, Jacquie continues her journey alone and then accepts a lift from a young student.  Finally, she reaches her mother's place, at Palavas-les-Flots, and renews her acquaintance with an old school friend, Jean, who has always had a crush on her.

Jean has many attractive qualities but he holds no interest for the restless Jacquie and she is soon pursuing another fleeting liaison with another young man, Régis.  Disillusioned with love and short of cash, the young woman is forced to return to her mother, but she cannot bear the prospect of ending up like her sister, trapped in a dreary life of hard work that offers no rewards.  Instead, Jacquie begins looking for a more satisfying job, whilst continuing her seemingly endless search for the man of her dreams...