Paris Awakens
(Paris s'éveille)
Screening on Film
Directed by Olivier Assayas.
With Judith Godréche, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Thomas Langmann.
France, 1991, 35mm, color, 95 min.
French with English subtitles.
Print source: Pathe
With Judith Godréche, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Thomas Langmann.
France, 1991, 35mm, color, 95 min.
French with English subtitles.
Print source: Pathe
Familial affection (or lack thereof) becomes entangled with budding sexual desire in Paris Awakens. Young Adrien comes to live with his estranged father, but their awkward reunion is given an Oedipal twist by Adrien's feelings for his father's young girlfriend. Further complications unfold with the revelation of a secret in Adrien's recent past. Paris Awakens foreshadows the complex, anguished family dynamics in Les Destinées sentimentales and Clean.