The Secret Child (1979)
(L’enfant secret, Philippe Garrel, France 1979, 92 min., DCP, French w/subtitles)
Philippe Garrel. The transitional film of Garrel’s career, pivoting from experimental work into narrative, from films with Nico to works imbued with her spirit. Robert Bresson “models”—Anne Wiazemsky (Au hasard Balthazar) and Henri de Maublanc (The Devil, Probably)—are a couple who fall in love and then fall to pieces, descending into drug addiction and mutually enforced self-destruction. Winner of the Prix Jean Vigo in 1982, this lacerating work of cinematic self-analysis was Garrel’s most traditional film to date, though as quietly revolutionary as any of his previous work and a testament to an artist’s survival. “The secret child of French cinema, Philippe Garrel has sent us a sign of life. Our answer: we hear you loud and clear.” —Serge Daney