Married filmmaker Jean (Jean Yanne) and the considerably younger Catherine (Marlène Jobert) have been lovers for 6 years, meeting clandestinely in hotel rooms, in cars, during holidays or at weekends. Almost everyday Jean and Catherine fight, threatening to leave each other. Until one day, Catherine finally does. Heavily autobiographical, Pialat says he made this clinical portrait of endless breakups and makeups as a form of release.

He is not however kind with his protagonist who is an inveterate coward, describing Jean as ‘an unsuccessful, anxious 40-year-old adolescent’. Jean Yanne is monumental in this role, but this is also an opportunity to discover two splendid actresses from the ’70s, Marlène Jobert and Macha Méril. (MPR)

Jean Yanne, Best Actor, Cannes Film Festival 1972

Showing as part of the IFI French Film Festival 2015 (November 18th – 29th)