Mourir à trente ans, Romain Goupil, Frantzia, 1982, 97’
In No intenso agora, João Moreira Salles recalls a film that was fundamental to him becoming a film director, a film that talked about the restlessness of youth, of his early nostalgia, of post-revolution abyss. He refers to Mourir à trente ans, by Romain Goupil. Chris Marker also reflected, in Sans Soleil, on that specific moment that comes after struggles and strife: “What every revolutionary thinks the day after victory: now is when the real problems begin”.
This film portrays the generation that made the revolution of 1968 possible, through one of those at the centre of it: Michel Recanati.
The Viet Nam war aroused the political consciousness of an entire generation. That’s when Recanati joined The Communist Youth League. Then came May 68: street barricades, readings, old values, assemblies, a city taken over. Everything was possible at that moment. The years go by, disenchantment sets in, death stalks the arena. That’s when Roumain Goupil decides to look back and tries to understand what happened.
The film won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 1982
This film portrays the generation that made the revolution of 1968 possible, through one of those at the centre of it: Michel Recanati.