To Our Loves

Three years after shocking audiences with Isabelle Huppert's adulterous pursuit of the boorish Gérard Depardieu in Loulou, Maurice Pialat explored the theme of teenage promiscuity in this equally controversial picture. Opting for realism to achieve dramatic truth rather than make political capital, Pialat draws a disturbingly authentic performance from Sandrine Bonnaire, whose confused relationship with her absentee father (Pialat) prompts her to adopt an increasingly reckless attitude towards sex. The violent slanging matches with her brother, Dominique Besnehard, are grimly arresting, but they're less revealing than the still naive 15-year-old's excruciating encounters with the father whose love she craves.