Fin août, début septembre

Fin août, début septembre describes several events that take place from late August to early September next year. The film is for instance about the ending of the relationship between Gabriel and Jenny, despite the affection they still have for each other, until a new love turns up: that between Gabriel and Anne, with all the uncertainties and fears that entails. At the same time, the film is a report of the demise of Gabriel’s best friend, the writer Adrien Willer. Gabriel admires the shy and uncompromising Adrien and feels small, almost undersized, in his presence. When an old illness reappears, Adrien has to come to terms with his impending death. But that does not just involve him, because his tragedy is shared by the people around him. Death is present, seen through the eyes of others. Death changes life until in the end life absorbs death.The whole of Olivier Assayas’ feature oeuvre has been screened at the festival in Rotterdam, from his début film Désordre in 1986 to Irma Vep in 1997. In his latest film too, Assayas investigates with unchanged intelligence and surgical precision, modern (French) relationships and the underlying (universal) sensitivities – the fears, hesitations and pain. Assayas tackles these relationships in a virtuoso way, not aimed at providing cheap thrills.