THE BIRTH OF LOVE (La Naissance de l'Amour) (1993) - ♦♦♦

Directed by - Philippe Garrel

Written by - Muriel Cerf, Marc Cholodenko, Philippe Garrel

Starring - Lou Castel, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Johanna ter Steege

"The Birth of Love is a film that might as well be called ‘the death of love’. The punchline of the title points its finger at romanticism, and yet Garrel with this film casts a somewhat blatantly disenchanted light at the theme of love, and is perhaps more prominently driven by the illustration of a final and disappointed emptiness of life – a feeling of frustration and restlessness. 

The film revolves around the life of an actor, played by Lou Castel hardly looking like an Adonis, who is about to have his second child with the same wife he fights with all the time and is, at the same time, having an affair with a woman half his age. Simultaneously, his best friend’s wife has just left him without warning, and is having an affair of her own. 

Despite the honesty of the film, The Birth of Love is rather cold and distant. More than thought provoking or indeed provocative in any way, it feels a little unfulfilled and lost in its contemplative preciousness, lacking depth and substance."

Drama, France/Switzerland