Born in '68

This politically naïve and protracted slice of dewy-eyed nostalgia charts the ups and downs of a band of beautiful Parisian chums whose righteous, left-leaning ideals – instilled during the May ’68 student riots – are slowly chipped away over the years by the shifting economic and social tides. Laetitia Casta’s Catherine is the central protagonist, with the film following her tear-soaked journey from muslin-clad free-love flower child to anxious bourgeois mother of two. An expansive ensemble of mostly featureless side players often feel as though they’ve been tossed in to allow the filmmakers to cast their political net a little wider: Catherine’s gay son becomes an Aids campaigner and her daughter marries an immigrant. The directors’ (who also made ‘Cockles & Muscles’) bland staging of the action – lots of ‘profound’ chatter and often a TV or radio lurking in the background to fill in the historical context – makes this something of a worthy slog.