The Inner Scar
Director: Philippe Garrel
Year Released: 1972
Rating: 3.5
This raw, consciously arty early work by Garrel is one of the most memorable break-up movies of all time - though to reduce this to 'only' being a work about fractured relationships is to ignore a lot of its earthy poetry. The 'story' is open to interpretation - the scenes consist of no more than two individuals (generally Nico, weeping and/or despondent, and a male character) and take place in a variety of environmental conditions and locales (Death Valley, Egypt, Iceland). It's a film of personal anguish for both former lovers Garrel and Nico, who had a troubled relationship marked by infidelity, and the scenes of the two of them alone (which take place in the beginning) are chilling: he's unresponsive to her woes; she's powerless to make him to react. Don't watch it with anyone you actually care about.
