La petite Lili

La petite Lili is purportedly based on Anton Chekov’s play The Seagull, and if the film is any indication, it’s a work that’s lost all relevance in the 21st century. This plotless tale follows several characters as they talk and fight and then talk some more, with an emphasis on a pretentious director (Robinson Stévenin’s Julien) and his girlfriend (Ludivine Sagnier’s Emilier). Director Claude Miller clearly has a keen eye for impressive visuals (eg one of the opening scenes features an old man napping in a field as a cow wanders by), but the abstract nature of the many conversations makes it virtually impossible to become involved in any of this. In a lot of ways, the film is very similar to Denys Arcand’s far superior The Decline of the American Empire; both movies contain discussions on a wide variety of topics, but the difference is that Arcand’s film uses the dialogue to develop the characters into genuinely compelling figures. By the time La petite Lili‘s credits roll, we haven’t learned a single thing about these people and, ultimately, it’s impossible not to wonder what the point of all this is. Having said that, the performances are surprisingly effective and go a long way towards keeping the film from sinking into all-out tedium.

** out of ****