主播大秀

Starring a fresh-faced Isabelle Huppert and G茅rard Depardieu, French romantic drama Loulou has barely aged since it was first released in 1980. Directed and co-written by the late Maurice Pialat (who became an international name on the back of the film's success), it centres on the class-crossed love affair between a bourgeois woman and a thieving layabout. The highs and lows of the relationship are invested with such rare, raw honesty that the film may be downbeat, but it is never dull.

There's certainly plenty of incident, starting with Loulou (Depardieu) and Nelly (Huppert)'s first flirtatious encounter in a Paris disco. Comfortable but bored with the life she shares with stick-in-the-mud ad executive Andre (Guy Marchand), she moves in with the rough and ready Loulou, who may be workshy, but has plenty to give in the bedroom.

"MAKES NO SENSE"

There's a knifing, a pregnancy and the odd petty robbery, not to mention the ongoing love-triangle tension that's fuelled by Nelly continuing to work for her pining ex. So much potential for melodrama, yet Pialat never makes us feel like we're watching a soap opera. That's partly down to the style of the film - handheld camerawork, lengthy takes, no incidental music. But the abiding sense of authenticity also owes a lot to the naturalistic dialogue and performances. Huppert and Depardieu's relationship may not be the most conventionally romantic you'll ever see - the fade-out is as low-key as they come - but there's no shortage of spark. If you fancy seeing two of today's world-cinema icons in the bloom of their youth, then don't miss out.