Love, etc.

A Georges Delerue-like Gallic version of Julian Barnes' novel Talking It Over, about a ménage à trois, this second feature from Vernoux (director Jacques Audiard's partner) is a self conscious attempt, complete with its 'Scope visuals and 180-degree circling camera, to refract modernity through a period lens - with one eye on the '60s New Wave, and the other on the more contemplative '70s. Gainsbourg, in fashionably mismatched outfits, plays strong-headed Marie, who marries orthodox Benoît (Attal) but becomes more and more intrigued by his 'crazier' lecturer pal of 20 years, Pierre (Berling). Attal and Berling give strong performances, notably in a passionate, confrontational head to head, but despite the evident intention to examine 'a man's world', it's Gainsbourg's lively gamine who provides the most compelling portrait. The film's retro chic aesthetic admits a certain waywardness and the odd longueur (the early pacing is variable, to say the least), but it grows considerably in interest and confidence as it progresses.