Portrait d’une jeune fille de la fin des années 60 à Bruxelles + La Paresse

Akerman’s contribution to the landmark television series Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge (which also yielded Claire Denis’ US Go Home and Olivier Assayas’ Cold Water) holds true to its title as it hews closely to its moody protagonist, Michèle (Circé Lethem), a headstrong high schooler and aspiring writer who confesses that her exterior “joie de vivre” masks her inner suffering. Deciding to abandon her studies and her family, she naturally heads to the cinema, where she meets a handsome French deserter from a hoity family. For the rest of the day they meander through the streets of Brussels, oscillating between desire and despair.

Featuring some of Akerman’s most beautiful sequences and a superlative soundtrack that includes Johnny Hallyday, France Gall, Leonard Cohen, and James Brown, Portrait d’une jeune fille de la fin des années 60 à Bruxelles is a minimalist yet stirring ode to youth, freedom, friendship, and nights that should last forever.