A curious little film that I was drawn to because I had seen the director's later and unique Litan (1982) and then discovered that the little celebrated Jean-Pierre Mocky has made over 70 films. This, one of his earliest films, is clearly low budget and he stars as well as directs. There are marvellous moments when his eye for the unusual and stylish are to the fore but stretches where for lack of resources or whatever things are more mundane. Inspired by the Paris 1968 events this opens with an armed attack upon an orgy of young girls and rich old men and the 'terrorists' are seen as the good guys. Interesting that on the subtitles the term 'terrorists' is used because my clear recollection is that at the time such opponents of the status quo were referred to as 'revolutionists'. The tale is well enough told and our interest held throughout but I feel that it is simply that some sequences, especially the final one, are so good that I regret the whole could not have been similarly inspired. The difficult mix of sex and politics is intelligently dealt with and Mocky should be applauded for that at least, as well as the flashes of stylish vision.
Review of Solo
