Le pont du nord

The 360-degree tracking shot that opens the film and follows the young Baptiste (Pascale Ogier), a martial arts trained troublemaker with a leather jacket and a white moped, already ushers in a sense of physical vertigo. It is at this tumultuous traffic junction in contemporary Paris that it thus begins, the fairy tale from a bygone era announced via an intertitle. An adventurous odyssey through the French capital subsequently unfolds, moving back and forth across the porous membrane that separates fantasy from reality. The route is provided by a map with mysterious markings, the pathfinders are Baptiste and Marie (Bulle Ogier), who has recently been released from prison. Among those who cross their path are Marie’s boyfriend Julien (Pierre Clémenti), three different Maxs and any number of stone lions. Maybe it was all a dream? Baptiste’s words also fit to this question: “Ne cherchez pas à comprendre!” (Don’t try to understand!) (mg)