L'Homme qui a perdu son ombre (1991)
Directed by Alain Tanner

Film Review

More than just a portrait of mid-life crisis, Alain Tanner's L'Homme qui a perdu son ombre is a cogent metaphor for a society that is in danger of losing its soul as the pressures of modern living (driven by capitalism and a relentless drive towards conformity) erode individuality and those things that make life worth living. It is a continuation of themes that Tanner has already covered in films such as Messidor (1979) and Le Milieu du monde (1974), but there is a sense that the director is now building to a depressing conclusion, that what the future has in store for man is a soulless existence drained of colour and purpose.

Typical of Tanner's later work, the sparsely populated and coldly austere settings convey a harrowing sense of the sterility of his central protagonist's existence and his increasing detachment from a world that has long ceased to enchant him. L'Homme qui a perdu son ombre is one of Tanner's most bleakly lyrical films, and its lead actor Francisco Rabal powerfully conveys the desolation of a man desperately searching for meaning in his life after the delusions of youth have fallen by the wayside. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi appears surprisingly at home in Tanner's gloomy universe, impressing in one of her very first screen appearances.

Film Synopsis

Suffering from a creative block, a writer, Paul, walks away from his wife and job and hides away in a remote Spanish resort in the hope of regaining his inspiration.  He spends his time touring the desert on his motorbike and philosophising with an older man, Antonio, who fought in the Spanish civil war.  Unable to account for Paul's behaviour, his wife, Anne, contacts his former girlfriend Maria and persuades her to help find Paul and persuade him to return.  When the two women suddenly re-appear in his life, Paul is far from pleased...