The Drift (1964)
Directed by Paula Delsol
83 minutes
An underseen and criminally overlooked film of the _Nouvelle Vague_, Paula Delfsol’s sensual, meandering work of modernistic character study follows Jacquie (Jacqueline Vandal), a young woman who leaves her family to hit the road with her guitarist lover, only for him to abandon her. As she proceeds to encounter a succession of men, Delsol uses Jacquie’s experiences to reflect on the state of women’s liberation in 1960s France. In her first feature film, Delsol filled nearly every role behind the camera, and though it fell into obscurity for decades following its Cannes premiere, the film today appears to us as a bold and innovative feminist contribution to the notorious boys’ club that was the _Nouvelle Vague_. A Janus Films release.