Dans la ville blanche

A Swiss sailor suffers a quiet spiritual crisis while AWOL in Lisbon, recording his thoughts and impressions with an old 8mm movie camera and sending the images home to his wife. Pursuing an elusive, aimless life away from all responsibility, he wanders the boulevards, spends idle hours in pool halls, and eventually begins a love affair with an equally lonely and independent young barmaid. Nothing is ever explicit in this restrained and taciturn drama; the sailor's mounting despair is communicated almost entirely through a steady stream of sensuous imagery. In its own quiet, confident manner the film is one of the more poetic evocations of isolation and solitude, and a poignant reminder of the heartbreak always lurking behind any dream of total freedom.