Les routes du sud

Obscure effort by director Losey, made in France, reportedly a very personal, nostalgic story. Former resistance fighter Montand and his wife still support the Franco opposition from their exile in France. His already difficult relationship with his son Malet is put to a test, when his wife dies in an accident. Pensive, often heavy-going, yet still watchable drama benefits from good location work, Montand's charisma and Michel Legrand's jazzy score. Deliberately paced movie requires patience.

Yves montand, the cinematography and the locations make this movie a pleasant watch. Semprun's screenplay however lacks soul. It's about idea's and not really about people. Especially the girl is nowhere near human.

Sometimes this artificiality makes a pleasant contrast with the dreamlike playfulness and melancholic characters in Losey's movies. But in this case the narrative is too wiry and the story contains just one strong character.

But I'm still glad I watched it. Losey is one of a kind and his own story is also fascinating. This movie seems to be a very personal one because of the similarities with Losey's own life.