This film has almost no merit. It is the pseudo-intellectual, senile gibberish of an impotent, burnt-out one-time maybe genius. What some reviewers view as highbrow filmmaking is nothing but a compilation of name dropping (Hannah Ahrendt, Simon Weil, Iris Berry, - if you don't know who they were, so much the better, if you do, you ought to be verly impressed), vicious anti-American tirades so fashionable these days among the French ("Americans have no past, therefore they borrow others' history") semi-allusions to historical figures and events. The story (?) itself is incoherent and incomprehensible, the characters repulsive, full of bellyaching, Weltschmerz, negativity, lack of irony or humor. The only good thing is the stunning black and white photography of the first part of the film.