Late August, Early September

A French film set in Paris. Adrien is a writer. He has four books, none of which sold, and he is respected in literary circles but has no money. Gabriel is his friend. He works at a publishing house, has set aside his own wish to write, and admires Adrien. Adrien is ill. A diagnosis is made and he never quite explains it to anyone. From there the film spreads across several months. Selling a flat, a move, a hospital visit, a funeral and what comes after. Gabriel's own life is untidy. He separates from Jenny, becomes involved with Anne, and cannot decide between them. Adrien has a relationship. Vera is fifteen, and nobody around them knows; the narrative opens it near the end and leaves it without judgement. What the narrative is interested in is not death but a generation: the film describes the moment a group of people in their late thirties let go of the ideas of their youth. The structure is divided into sections. The narrative jumps in time and the passing of months is marked only by a title. The camera is always moving. The scenes were shot handheld, in natural light, on sixteen millimetre film. Conversations are left unfinished. The characters cut across each other, the sentences do not end, and the important things are never said. The scene where the books are sold is the film's best. Adrien's books are disposed of and that moment sums up everything. Mathieu Amalric, Virginie Ledoyen, François Cluzet and Jeanne Balibar are in the cast. Olivier Assayas wrote and directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes realist French drama and stories of daily life. Who it is not for: anyone looking for plot; the film is deliberately without incident and there are a great many characters.