Le Sel des larmes

Driven by his desire to become a cabinetmaker, Luc arrives in Paris. Lost in the banlieues, he asks Djemila for directions. In the girl’s shyness, Luc glimpses the chance of an adventure. The two meet again but then Luc has to return home to his father, who is also a carpenter. There, he meets Geneviève, whom he knows from the past, and begins a romance with her. When Luc is offered a place at the renowned furniture-making school École Boulle, he follows his dream and moves to Paris, leaving Geneviève behind. Soon, a third young woman enters his small apartment, bringing the freedom of the big city with her. Via Renato Berta’s black-and-white cinematography, Philippe Garrel depicts a sentimental education, where the essential often happens at the edges of the frame or even off-screen. Time and again, Luc succumbs to glittering appearances, but with each conquest he loses something, the value of which he only realises later. Le Sel des larmes is a magnificent tale of the cruelties that lovers inflict and suffer. (Berlinale)