Assayas’ first feature isn’t really great but it still is an enigmatic treatise on the tension between youthful idealism and fatalism as a group of friends with music ambitions rethink their existence after a plan goes awry, leaving blood in their hands.
Review #2,796
Dir. Olivier Assayas
1986 | France | Drama | 91 min | 1.85:1 | French
Not rated – likely to be NC16 for some violence, sexual references and coarse language
Cast: Wadeck Stanczak, Ann-Gisel Glass, Lucas Belvaux, Remi Martin, Corinne Dacla
Plot: A group of young musicians led by the charismatic frontman Yvan are on the verge of a breakthrough in the European underground rock scene. However, their future is sent spiralling out of control after a robbery gone wrong.
Awards: Official Selection (Venice)
Source: Forum Distribution
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Music Band; Unintended Consequences; Idealism
Narrative Style: Slightly Complex
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Arthouse
Viewed: MUBI
Spoilers: No
I’ve been an Olivier Assayas convert for some time, so I’m glad to be able to see his first feature on MUBI. Disorder, as it is called, isn’t really great but it already reveals signs of a filmmaker of considerable talent.
Like many of his later films, Disorder feels like an enigma—it’s hard to put a finger on it but one can recognise that the film operates at a level beyond the plot.
I would describe Disorder as a treatise on the tension between youthful idealism and fatalism as a group of friends in a music band hope to make it big but a semi-secret plan that goes awry causes them to rethink their existence.
That inciting incident is wrapped up effectively within the first five minutes, sparking the film’s narrative trajectory when someone is unwittingly killed. Unintended consequences abound as the main trio Yvan, Henri and Anne have blood on their hands, so they make a pact to stay silent and chase their music dreams.
“They’ll never find us if we keep quiet.”
Assayas has always been an inspired employer of sonic elements in his films, in particular pop and rock soundtracks, and here we see it coming to life in several invigorating sequences of the band performing.
A globetrotting drama of sorts that sees the characters visit both London and New York for work, Disorder works best when it asks questions of the characters’ trust and commitment to each other as friends and even romantic partners.
With a tone that feels like an elegy for youthful dalliance, expressed mournfully in Gabriel Yared’s (best known for his Oscar-winning music for 1996’s The English Patient) strings-heavy score, Assayas captures something elusive about the ennui of young folks with sizable dreams but without sufficient mental wherewithal to navigate the emotional waves of trauma, guilt and regret that debilitatingly come and go.
Grade: B-
Trailer:
Eternality Tan 
A great review. I haven’t heard of this movie, but it definitely sounds like the type of film that I would enjoy. I have always been drawn towards movies depicting the lives of teenagers. Teenagers and music have often gone hand in hand in movies. As a teenager, I used to have a fondness for listening to rock music. And so, I have always enjoyed movies that depict this subject matter.
For instance, a great film capturing roles that music plays through the lives of youth is “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. It tells the story of three teenagers that bond together through their love for music. A brilliant adaptation of the beloved book. Here’s why I recommend it strongly:
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