IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN (L’OMBRE DES FEMMES) World Cinema

Husband and wife Pierre and Manon live and work in Paris as poor but happy documentary filmmakers. When Pierre meets Elizabeth, an intern at the film archives, he quickly takes her as a lover, hoping to fulfill his desire of having both a mistress and a wife. But a complex study of devotion and betrayal unfurls as Elizabeth’s passions grow and Pierre discovers Manon is having an affair of her own. Operating for more than half a century as one of France’s premier cinema artists, Philippe Garrel has established himself as a subtle master, revealing the secrets of the human psyche stitched within his carefully framed, compelling narratives. Amid the deceptively simple premise of his latest work, Garrel’s gifted hand plays with conventions in this leanly sculpted effort of gentle wit and profound discoveries. Shooting with an exquisite eye for form and trained understanding of space and tone, Garrel evokes classic French cinema with a delightfully modern touch. —Landon Zakheim