Loulou

1980 Directed by Maurice Pialat

Nelly, a restless young woman abandons her bourgeois friends and a steady relationship for the unemployed wild, leather-clad bad boy Loulou, whose charms include focusing his energy into sex.

Isabelle Huppert Gérard Depardieu Guy Marchand Humbert Balsan Christian Boucher Bernard Tronczak Frédérique Cerbonnet Jacqueline Dufranne Willy Safar Agnès Rosier Patricia Coulet Jean-Claude Meilland Patrick Playez Gérald Garnier Catherine De Guirchitch Jean Van Herzeele Patrick Poivey Xavier Saint-Macary

101 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★

The act of making love, but
not love as the making of it,
not love purely as the act itself;
love as an anti-physicality, rather,
while still remaining a love
with one of the most strongly
protected corporeal connections.
The spiritual, subverting the physical.
Review by Patrick Pryor ★★★★

If young Isabelle Huppert left me for human Shrek, I'd probably brood and blow a saxophone in a window, too.
Review by trolleyfreak ★★★★

Typically of Maurice Pialat, his frank approach to a subject that has often been handled on screen (relationship dynamics) is both dense and detailed, resulting in a groundbreaking drama which scathingly criticizes French society at the end of a decade.
The intelligent, semi-improvised dialogue is wholly compelling and when placed in the mouths of two such talented actors it is delivered with the requisite power.
A triumph..
Review by russman ★★★

I need more leather in my wardrobe
Review by jacky 🥀 ½ 3

More like "poo-poo" 💩
Review by Elena Lazic ★★★★★

I somehow loved it even more on the big screen.

Recent reviews

Review by Peter Langman ★★★★

To quote Karen Krizanovich; "It's compelling, intelligent and very adult entertainment."
Review by Joel Mayward ★★★½

This is *very* French.
Review by Chadman

French melodrama that wanders around for a bit without having a destination. The acting is good, but the script really lets it down.
Not recommended
Review by gillyblanchett ★★★

an interesting look at relationships and a great performance by isabelle and her wonderful face
Review by Miguel Marías

Presentación de Maurice Pialat
Una película de Maurice Pialat es casi como una bofetada. Hay que encajarla, y prepararse para resistir la siguiente. Que puede ser un directo, corto y preciso, a la mandíbula. No es, sin embargo, cine para masoquistas: los efectos de la paliza pueden ser saludables, si se aprende a pelear sobre la marcha; un golpe despeja, si no tumba.
El de Pialat es un cine infrecuente y poco recomendable: de carnicero, de leñador, de boxeador, más que de artista. Una mirada brutal, sin miedo ni prejuicios. Una exposición directa, física, sin contemplaciones, en bloque, expeditiva. Una elaboración casi manual —y, en este sentido, más “artesanal” que “de autor”, por personal que sea la actitud de Pialat…
Review by victor ★★★★

depois de uma longa jornada pra achar esse filme desde o ano passado, a única coisa que eu quero dizer é:
oi, isabelle huppert. boa noite, para de mamar gente feia nos comentários que não é porque você é francesa que você precisa levar ao extremo
Review by thomb1 ★★★

This continues Pialat's style of long takes that capture the nuances of complex interpersonal relationships evolving over time, but it feels significantly more kinetic at times due to the increased amount of camera movement. Loulou himself is a character defined by his impulsivity and aimlessness and the film is at its best when the style matches the appeal of this way of living (as well as the sense of disorientation that comes with it). I also appreciate the film's narrative obliqueness as it frequently cuts important plot points in the service of capturing genuine emotion within specific moments. I think of the cut from a scene where Loulou and André had just fought over Nelly to a scene where Loulou…
Review by RentonDuc ★★½

Ils jouent très bien.
Review by brunomilan ★★★★

Es algo así como la continuación de Les valseuses, sólo que acá vemos lo que sucede cuando un sujeto soberano es capturado involuntariamente por la lógica de las obligaciones, los proyectos y el futuro: lo que queda es un ser emasculado, derrotado, infeliz. Pero no es la mujer la que lo retiene, es justamente el imaginario social de la masculinidad la que parece atarlo a determinadas funciones y roles. De hecho la mujer no reclama ni pide nada. El deseo de Isabelle Huppert permanece irreductible.