Something in the Air (2013)

Powerful

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Olivier Assayas's film 'Something in the Air' is an affectionate, although not uncritical, look at the lives of young French radicals after 1968. Watching it, you get an interesting sense of an era when students were interested in something other than building their careers (although the protagonists don't all completely abandon their bourgeois dreams); there's also the contrast between their profound political beliefs, and the feeling that their beloved freedom is basically the freedom of being young and moneyed - the revolution as a gap year, so to speak. The way that a life spent chasing experience ultimately does not build the foundation of lasting relationships is also well-conveyed. Overall, the cast are a little too beautiful - who wouldn't be a revolutionary when the benefits were so obvious? - and if the film has a serious weak-point, it's in not fully explaining quite why youth was drawn to the counter-culture except in a vague, spirit-of-the-age type way. A final quibble - the English translation of the French title (Apres Mai) is an awful one, better befitting a light romantic comedy.

Others have gotten into the film with further depth, but to add my two cents won't take long. It's more of a general review.This is a film that had promise (perhaps like the lives of the students), but then really didn't go anywhere (like many lives)...perhaps that was the point, but it didn't make for a compelling film throughout. I'm giving it a 7:+ 8 for intention/promise6 for overall executionWhat I liked: characters who were finding themselves/evolving, challenging the status quo, and were willing to fight for what they believed in drew me in. The art direction gave the film a consistent and believable look and feel.What I didn't like: lack of a strong narrative or focus throughout the film made it hard to stay engaged; some of the music was just odd at times; the characters' motivations were hazy and malleable; and it was a bit long for what the film ended up being (it could have been better if shorter and more neatly wrapped up or much longer and followed the characters years down the road; the length didn't help the film).If you like French films, you'll probably enjoy this to some degree as I did. If you like the constant, mindless action, tight editing, fast dialog and vapidness of most Hollywood films, don't bother.

Just watched the movie yesterday, and for those who are interested in the high school movement of France in the early '70s and expect the movie to have a say about the topic, it would be a disappointment. Therefore, alter your expectations towards an autobiography of a young artist who is in pursuit of love, his ideals and independence.The opening of the movie is promising with protests, group of students clashing ideas and then acting based on those ideas. You can actually sense that there is something in the air which is obviously the belief in the revolution. Yet later, it seems quite undecided whether to focus on the aspect of revolutionary ideas or on the personal lives and thoughts of the characters. Both topics can be processed in a movie, however in this one both aspects seems inconclusive.Also what I see missing in the movie is that all young revolutionaries were not faced a tough life or living a life that is rather comfortable. They want to change things but it seems they are not sure what they want to change or how bad things are for the working class. I am not expecting a person of that age to be fully aware of the situation but I wondered how would they react in a desperate situation. They do not look unhappy with their life.If I had watched the movie with different expectations, I would have enjoyed it more. It is still likable but not satisfying.

A miniature portrait of the student movement, that focuses around a group of few passionate youngsters.They do not just want better rights and more acknowledgment; they are prepared to fight in order to get it. It feels the world is at a turning point and so are their lives. If they do not fight for a better world, then what is it all for?The struggle begins full of zeal, passion and fervour. The time, being unforgiving to all, changes everything. The views of society change, ideals and lives. Through fighting, facing consequences and experimenting with free love and drugs our heroes find themselves facing new realities and challenges. The goal seem to have been achieved, what now? The existential question in everyone's minds.Though low key, it has enough youthful energy that exhumes passion, inspiration that can stir the audience's thought process expecting from all of us to not lose sight of our ideals, the very thing that makes us human.