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Asked to contribute to the French TV mini-series Tous les Garcons et les Filles de Leur Age (All the Boys and Girls in Their Time)—which assigned ten European directors the task of creating films about their adolescence, stipulating only that each include a party scene filled with the music of their era—Denis responded with this elegant and affectionate miniature.
Set in the late 60s, on the perimeters of an American army base somewhere outside Paris, it finds 15-year-old Martine (Alice Houri) struggling to come of age, having just learned that her best friend, Marlene, has recently lost her virginity—a distinction that threatens the two girls' relationship. As Marlene attempts to 'catch up' over the course of one long and confusing night, Denis delivers an uncondescending and utterly convincing depiction of teenage longing, rendering her heroine's misadventures with compassion and genuine insight.
She puts us in immediate and seemingly intimate contact with every character on the screen. Claire Denis has become one of the great directors of our time."— Amy Taubin