Return from Africa

A satirical take on the armchair left and a prime example of Tannerian humor. The protagonists, a pair of twenty-somethings with progressive views and a bohemian lifestyle, decide to leave Geneva for Algeria, where their friend Max is supposed to help them get settled. Determined not to end up like the bourgeoisie, he quits his job as a gardener for the wealthy, and she leaves her position at an art gallery (also for the wealthy). After selling their furniture and piano, Vincent and Françoise possess only a mattress, on which they spend most of their days. Max advises them not to come, promising a written explanation in a letter that never arrives. The couple, who should have long been basking in the revolutionary sunshine of Algiers, find themselves finishing leftovers and hiding from friends for whom they previously threw a farewell party. Living in limbo, stripped of their status symbols and the environment that shaped their views and plans, Vincent and Françoise are forced to reassess their relationship and the true motivations behind their desire to abandon their comfortable lives. Return from Africa tells the story of the unlearned lessons of Paris' May '68 and the revolutionary zeal as a fashionable guise for the young bourgeoisie. With Rohmeresque verbosity, Godardian political passion, and Tanner’s unique disillusionment, the film offers a perfect portrait of the era.