Roads to the South

Conceived by Jorge Semprun and Yves Montand as a companion piece to The War Is Over (1966) on which they'd worked with Alain Resnais, this downbeat drama about the growing disillusionment of an old-style socialist has none of the intellectual intensity of its predecessor and comes across as an old man's lament for past times and missed opportunities. Originally intended for the small screen, Joseph Losey's film has its touching moments, particularly when Montand and his young lover, Miou-Miou, head back to Spain on the death of Franco. But, mostly, it's an interminably polemical picture, which offers few historical or contemporary insights.