Simone Barbès ou la vertu (1980)
Directed by Marie-Claude Treilhou

Film Review

This first film from Marie-Claude Treilhou has many good ideas and does reveal a promising auteur in its aspiring director.  However, the lackadaisical “cinema vérité” style soon becomes tiresome and it is hard to engage with principal character when so little is revealed other than a tragic sense of ennui.   There's a nice touch of irony in the film's first half, but this fails to last into the second half, which merely provides an unimaginative and painfully dull portrayal of a night in a lesbian nightclub.

Film Synopsis

Simone Barbès works as an usherette at a pornographic cinema in Paris.  Her evenings consist of checking tickets and eyeing a strange assortment of salivating saddos as they drift in and out of the film theatre like lost souls.  Her shift complete, she takes herself off to a lesbian bar to unwind in the company of a friend who works there.  With dawn not far off, Simone decides to head back home.  Outside in the street, there is no shortage of offers from men who are eager to give her a lift, and she ends up accepting one.  Taking the driving seat, she allows her talkative companion to unburden himself with a torrent of lurid confidences.  Depressed by the night's experiences, Simone looks for a place where she can take a final drink before hitting the sack...