Loulou
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B-
Gerard Depardieu is the title character in the Loulou,
Maurice Pialat’s 1980 drama about a middle-class couple (Guy Marchant, Isabelle
Huppert) who are simply not that happy together. He is verbally and even physically abusive towards her, so it is
not a big surprise when she meets Loulou and is taken by him.
Here is a younger guy who loves to laugh, party, dance,
and knows how to treat a lady properly.
This eventually causes more conflict in the developing triangle, but
there are also some interesting side stories among Loulou’s friends, as well as
Nelly’s (Huppert).
Though the screenplay by Arlette Langmann and Pialat is on
bad, and the film has its sexual moments, the film is off-balance, with Huppert
being far more interesting than her male co-stars and their characters. Loulou is not as successful as Nelly’s
husband, but will she leave the pain-ridden security of her marriage for a
possible better happiness. It makes
sense why she likes Loulou, but her inability to question what is going on and
consider other options limits the film’s scope overall. One could question if the female point of
view is defined well enough, but it is still enough for her character to stand
out.
The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is likely from an analog
PAL transfer, showing its age a bit.
This is still better than the Mon Oncle D’Amerique transfer
Gaumont Studios supplied New Yorker for that DVD, another Depardieu film
reviewed elsewhere on this site. Color
is not bad, but definition is lacking, though not too soft. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is passable for
its time, but shows its age. The
original trailer, other New Yorker trailers, and filmography of Pialat are
offered.
For Huppert, this was the same year she was part of
another triangle with two other men, in Michael Cimino’s underrated Heaven’s
Gate. Cimino declared her the next
great star, though critics ravaged everything and everyone associated with the
film. Loulou and her current
status as one of France’s premiere female leads in films like The Piano
Teacher and Merci Pour Le Chocolat prove that Cimino got that one
right too.
- Nicholas Sheffo
