L'homme qui a perdu son ombre

"L'Homme Qui A Perdu Son Ombre" aka "The Man Who Lost His Shadow" (1991) is, much like the few other Alain Tanner films I have seen, walking a thin line between tranquility and inertia - except this one too often crosses over to the wrong side. Not much at all occurs plot-wise, but Tanner does have an eye for locations. The film is basically a pure male fantasy: the man does not have to work for a living, he can take an indefinite vacation in a peaceful coastal Spanish town, he "writes" a little when he feels like it, he has a wise old mentor, a kid tucked away comfortably somewhere in Paris, and two beautiful women pining for him, which he treats indifferently and they still chase him around as if he was the last man on earth. His character is never very interesting (nice hair, though!), and a young, fresh Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi has the essentially thankless role of his wife. The Spanish duo of Francisco Rabal and Angela Molina fares better. ** out of 4.

This is a slow way of telling of a crisis in life. You get a chance to understand , to feel and to long for other human beings. Alain Tanner don´t tell us everything and the Mediterranean way of life is giving the place a part in the film.