In Olivier Assayas’ newest film, French teenagers dive headlong into the ferment of political and cultural revolt, circa 1971. Something in the Air doesn’t have the adrenaline rush of Assayas’ crime epic Carlos but it shares that film’s interest in what makes idealists tick.

Something in the Air is still playing in limited release around the country. Try and catch it on the big screen if possible. My review is at PopMatters; here’s part:

Quiet and mop-haired Gilles  spends half of his time churning out paintings and sketches and the other half selling underground magazines and trying to help the broad-based struggle. Like any teenager, he’s brimming over with romance and can’t decide what to do with it all. He has one girlfriend, the enigmatic Laure, who gives him thoughtful critiques of his work and also her own poetry chapbooks. After she heads off to London with her family, he is drawn toward the more serious-minded Christine, who takes a different view of the arts, that they should exist to further the revolution. All else is just bourgeois nonsense…

You can watch the trailer here: