Something in the Air

This 1970s-set rites-of-passage drama stars Clément Métayer as Gilles, a Paris teenager torn between following activist students emulating the notorious protests of 1968 and pursuing his academic interests in art and film-making. In the wake of a shocking attack on school security guards by Molotov cocktail-waving militants, Gilles takes flight with the radicals and descends into a world of drug-fuelled hedonism and political posturing. Writer/director Olivier Assayas perfectly captures the mood of an earlier generation through smart use of period music (Soft Machine, Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart), hippy party scenes and the often laughable sloganeering clichés of right-on youth. However, a romantic subplot seems awkwardly tacked on, and the pedestrian performances of Métayer and fellow leads Lola Créton and Felix Armand tend to curb any sympathy the viewer may have for these narcissistic would-be revolutionaries.