Love Without Pity

Hippo is twenty-five, lives in Paris, and does nothing. He is not studying, not working, not looking for work. His money comes from what his younger brother makes dealing and from the odd win at poker. His days go by trading lines with his friends; he mocks everything and believes in nothing. Then he meets Nathalie. She works hard, is ambitious, is preparing for exams, and takes her life seriously. Hippo falls in love and wants something for the first time, without knowing what wanting is. Éric Rochant directs; eighty-four minutes. Hippolyte Girardot plays Hippo and Mireille Perrier plays Nathalie, with a young Yvan Attal in the cast. It was Rochant's first film and was taken in France as a portrait of the late-eighties generation; it won the César for best first film.