Les hautes solitudes

Director: Philippe Garrel
Country: France

1974 | 80 min. | Without dialogue

Cast_ Jean Seberg, Tina Aumont, Nico, Laurent Terzieff Screenplay_ Philippe Garrel Camera_ Philippe Garrel Producer_ Philippe Garrel Rights_ Philippe Garrel

A cinematic experience inspired by Andy Warhol's legendary Screen Tests, whose hypnotic effect is irresistible.

French cinema in the 1970s was characterised by a great willingness to experiment, and in this regard Philippe Garrel's Les hautes solitudes is exemplary. Conceived as a silent film and shot in black and white, it is an experimental portrait, mainly comprising close-ups, of the actress Jean Seberg and of frequent Garrel collaborators (including Nico). A minimalist work that invites us to dream and whose basic idea, according to Garrel, was to create a new film from outtakes of a film that never existed. Or, as described by the New York Times: "One of the pleasures of Les hautes solitudes is that it encourages you to take up filmmaking, as you write that nonexistent movie in your head.”

Director

Philippe Garrel's central themes are love, drugs and filmmaking itself. In 1991, he won the Silver Lion at Venice with his film J'entends plus la guitare. In 2001, he won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes for Sauvage innocence and in 2006 the European Film Prize for Les Amants réguliers, also from FIPRESCI.