Loulou (1980)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Maurice Pialat

Writers:

Arlette Langmann (screenplay)
Arlette Langmann (story)
(more)

Release Date:

3 September 1980 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Pialat's portrait of contemporary France mocks prosperity as a substitute for social and sexual revolution...

Plot Keywords:

Big City | Paris | Urban | Female Nudity | Paris France

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Nelly
Gérard Depardieu	...	Loulou
Guy Marchand	...	André
Humbert Balsan	...	Michel
Bernard Tronczak	...	Rémy
Christian Boucher	...	Peirot
Frédérique Cerbonnet	...	Dominique
Jacqueline Dufranne	...	Mémère
Willy Safar	...	Jean-Louis
Agnès Rosier	...	Cathy
Patricia Coulet	...	Marité
Jean-Claude Meilland	...	Jean-Claude, le gars du casse
Patrick Playez	...	Thomas
Gérald Garnier	...	Lulu
Catherine De Guirchitch	...	Marie-Jo
Jean Van Herzeele	...	René
Patrick Poivey	...	Philippe
Xavier Saint-Macary	...	Bernard

Directed by
Maurice Pialat

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Arlette Langmann		screenplay
Arlette Langmann		story
Maurice Pialat		writer

Produced by
Yves Gasser	....	delegate producer
Klaus Hellwig	....	delegate producer
Yves Peyrot	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Philippe Sarde

Cinematography by
Pierre-William Glenn
Jacques Loiseleux

Film Editing by
Sophie Coussein
Yann Dedet

Production Design by
Alain Alitbol
Max Berto
Jean-Pierre Sarrazin

Costume Design by
Dorothée Nonn

Production Management
Farid Chaouche	....	assistant unit manager
Daniel Messère	....	production manager
Hugues Nonn	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dominique Bonnaud	....	assistant director
Cyril Collard	....	assistant director
Patrick Grandperret	....	assistant director
Pierre Wallon	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Dominique Dalmasso	....	sound
Dominique Hennequin	....	sound mixer
Jean-Pierre Lelong	....	foley artist
Gérard Loupias	....	sound
Jacques Maumont	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Andry	....	camera operator
Maurice Baltel	....	grip
Louis Bihi	....	gaffer
Albert Bonomi	....	key grip
Marc Casi	....	grip
Claude Chron	....	key grip
Etienne George	....	still photographer
Jean-Francis Gondre	....	assistant camera (as Jean-François Gondre)
Maggie Perlado	....	assistant camera
Rene Rochera	....	gaffer
Jean-Paul Rosa da Costa	....	assistant camera
André Seybald	....	electrician
Jean-Claude Vicquery	....	assistant camera
Christian Weyers	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Pascale Granel	....	assistant editor

Music Department
William Flageollet	....	music engineer

Other crew
Claude Davy	....	publicist
Maurice Defait	....	groupman
Henri Gilles	....	production administrator
Béatrice Launay	....	production assistant
Hélène Viard	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Action Films
• Gaumont

Distributors

• Gaumont (1980) (France) (theatrical)
• Gaumont DVD (2004) (France) (DVD) (box-set)
• Artificial Eye (????-????) (UK)
• Contemporary Films (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• Contemporary Films (2006) (UK) (all media)
• New Yorker Films (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Eurocitel  titles
• Paris Studios Cinéma  mixing

Also Known As:

Der Loulou (West Germany) [de]
Loulou - rakastettuni (Finland) [fi]
To agori pou agapousan ta koritsia (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

110 min | USA:101 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | UK:18

Company:

Action Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in Le cinéma passe à table (2005) (TV)

Pialat looks at sexual need

Pialat films people in extreme emotional situations, usually with several violent scenes. In La Gueule ouverte, he's dealing with the devastating effects on a woman's husband and son as she dies of cancer. In A nos amours, the teenage girl's sexual experimentation leads to violent confrontations with her family. Here we have a rather spoiled young woman who abandons her husband to take up with a sexy ex-con. Her motivation is a little cloudy, since Loulou is incapable of reading or discussing anything more challenging than TV shows; on the other hand, he's got a fabulous body (I wonder why Depardieu never made a sports movie to show off that physique--he would have been great as a rugby player).

The casting is impressive. Isabelle Huppert isn't allowed to give a bland, inexpressive performance (she has given many); Depardieu plays Loulou with all the dynamism and charm you could want--see the scene in the bar, where he's stabbed in the gut, runs away and seeks treatment, then soon restarts with Nelly. Guy Marchand, with those coal-black eyes and distressed look, plays Nelly's husband beautifully; it's a fine repeat of the pairing in Coup de foudre.