With this giddily romantic, exquisitely stylized sophomore feature, Leos Carax cemented his status as one of the boldest filmmakers of his generation. In a world ravaged by STBO, a sexually transmitted disease only acquired by people having sex without any emotion, a rebellious young man (Denis Lavant) is recruited by a veteran criminal (Michel Piccoli) to steal the antidote. He soon falls dangerously in love with his new associate’s lover (Juliette Binoche)—an infatuation that catapults him out into the street to run to the pounding beat of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” in one of the most exhilarating moments of eighties cinema.
Screening as part of Leos Carax: Modern Loves