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France, Switzerland · 2015
Rated PG · 1h 13m
Director Philippe Garrel
Starring Clotilde Courau, Stanislas Merhar, Léna Paugam, Vimala Pons
Genre Drama
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Pierre and Manon are poor. They make documentaries with nothing and they live by doing odd jobs. Pierre meets a young intern, Elisabeth, and she becomes his mistress. But Pierre will not leave Manon for Elisabeth; he wants to keep both.
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Mr. Garrel is always worth attending to when he takes up the rhythms and paradoxes of love, and even though this is a minor entry in his canon of melancholy romances, it is brief, brisk and intermittently affecting.
The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij
Initially somewhat wispy-feeling, this 72-minute feature transforms in its final reel from an ironic divertissement to a work of considerable feeling and intensity.
With its luscious 35mm photography and playful depiction of passionate lovers reaching a breaking point, the swift 72-minute drama delivers a satisfying riff on moody, intimate material Garrel has mined to richer effect many times before.
New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme
Garrel’s ideas on both are pretty old-fashioned. But he wraps it up with a pleasurable O. Henry-like twist, and a moment of what feels suspiciously like true love.
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Shot on black-and-white film that has the luster of hard coal, In The Shadow Of Women is often quite beautiful—and it has some jokes, too.
Philippe Garrel's film uses its characters' stodgy, formal language to betray their self-consciousness.
Even as the trio heads into a complicated dance of multiple infidelities, In the Shadow of Women never villainizes any of them.
Village Voice by Melissa Anderson
In so shrewdly exploring the illusions — namely (self-) deception — required to keep a dyad functioning, Garrel shows just how much we all remain, consciously or not, in the dark.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Garrel struggles to unearth anything new. The mechanics of the relationships on show fail to lead anywhere unexpected while the dialogue is often flat and on-the-nose.
A tightly focused romantic drama that exudes the narrative terseness of a good short story and the lucid craftsmanship of a filmmaker in full command of the medium.
Every moment matters.
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