GUTS (LEF) European Film Showcase

Aspiring writer/actor Olivier longs to live like Alain Delon, a tough-guy hero of French cinema. Unfortunately, Olivier is a coward – which becomes painfully obvious when he sees a young woman being pushed around and does nothing to help her. Coincidentally, Olivier meets the same intriguing woman, Marielle, days later. As he finds himself falling in love with her and her unpredictable nature, Olivier is plagued by the fear that she will eventually recognize him as the man who lacked the guts to intervene when she was being abused.

The film presents the creative challenges of the scriptwriting process, highlighting the role classic cinema plays in Olivier’s world by juxtaposing his black and white imagination with his daily life. Although his friends complain that Olivier’s characters are not “modern” enough, GUTS proves that the power of the Delon-style “single cold look” can still capture our imagination.