Film Review: Something In The Air (15) (France 2012) (Director: Oliver Assayas) (French, English & Italian with English Subtitles) Saturday 25.05.2013 18:00 The Filmhouse Cinema Screen Two, Edinburgh 

I went to see this film as one of the leads was performed by Lola Creton, who had performed as the lead character in 'Goodbye, First Love', which was No. 3 in my Top 10 of films released last year.

The film is set in 1971, three years after the student riots in France. Central to the film is a group of 'young adults' that would have been just too young to take part in the '68 protests. As many of this age, they feel angry at conditions they see around them, and with the example they have had set for them from the events of '68 they decide to take direct action. Then ensues the repercussions i.e. periods in exile and splintering of the central group etc.

The only thing the film appears to say is that the causes people tend to unify behind when young, tend to also be what also lands up driving those same people apart. These causes by their very nature do not allow for the expression of the self and tend to require a high degree of compromise of individual values and beliefs. People on the whole tend to get to a point when they are no longer willing to put up with such a degree of making their own needs and expression subservient.

Regrettably the film is too episodic. When returning to some characters it can be hard to remember what exactly was happening for them when they were last on screen. The film is also never clear as to exactly what is fueling the characters ire in the first place and gives no background to them. The characters portrayed spend the majority of the film smoking and fairly listless. They are essentially naive overly privileged bohemian bourgeoisie, and ultimately annoying, as many young adults are. As a result of this it is very difficult to care in any way for these characters. As a result of this issue and the fact that there appears to be very little development of character, I found myself getting bored by about half way through. I was very disappointed and would not recommend this nonsense to anyone.

Rating: 2/10.