La Nostalgie de la Boue

Leos Carax’s film, “The Lovers on the Bridge”, (“Les Amants du Pont-Neuf”) is so permeated with the romance of degradation that Baudelaire could have written the screenplay. Speaking of its Cannes premier in 1991, Roger Ebert said “…some were stunned by its greatness and more were simply stunned”. It stars the incomparable Juliette Binoche, wearing diseased-eyes prosthetics and a patch, as an artist who is going blind, and a really odd looking actor named Denis Lavant as an insomniac, alcoholic, fire-breathing performer. They are homeless people living on the Pont-Neuf, which is closed for renovation. They become lovers. If I told you the plot I would not only be a bad Bureau Chief but might induce a terminal attack of giggles.

Having said that, the film has visions of Hell in a drunk tank and motor boating on the Seine during a fireworks extravaganza, along with many other interesting things, and, depending on how much wine one had with dinner or what one just smoked, one might find considerable enjoyment in the completely over-the-top spectacle that it provides.