Something in the Air (Apres mai)

In the months after the heady weeks of May '68, a group of young people search for a way to continue the revolution believed to be just beginning. For Gilles, this means having to balance his political commitments with his desire to explore painting and filmmaking; for his girlfriend Christine Lola, this means throwing herself wholeheartedly into the task of organizing. Olivier Assayas here describes the sentimental education of a generation that was too young to have been on the barricades; he brilliantly captures its explorations of new lifestyles, the arguments about strategies and tactics, and above all its music, a constant presence that becomes something like the artistic unconscious of an era. The period details are perfect, but what makes this film so special is the sense it conveys of history as lived experience.