Strangulation Blues

Taking part in a poll for the best films of 1980, I decided to take a glance at French films which came out that year. Having enjoyed (and reviewed) his first three works,I was happy to spot Leos Carax's first movie,leading to me heading out on a Parisian night.

View on the film:

Years before he would hit the big screen with his indie Rock-scored Boy Meets Girl (1984-also reviewed) debut writer/directing auteur Leos Carax plays closer to the French New Wave rather then Cinema du Look, with Carax & cinematographer Bertrand Chatry following Paul on the streets with fluid FNW-style hand-held camera moves captured in grainy black and white.

Displaying a interest in disillusioned youth which would become a major theme in his later works, the screenplay by Carax tightly blends a poetic stream of consciousness with a nervousness over brutal crime,as Paul gets strangulation blues.