FRENCH director Philippe Garrel is a critics’ favorite, but his films rarely get a release in New York. Consider “L’Entends Plus La Guitare,” made in 1991 but only now receiving a run here.
Garrel dedicates the film to Nico, the Velvet Underground singer and his off- and on-screen muse.
Amber-haired Johanna ter Steege plays Marianne, the Nico surrogate who dies the same way Nico did: falling off a bike in Spain and hitting her head on the sidewalk. The late Benoit Regent is the Garrel stand-in, a man who goes from woman to woman with great ease.
Garrel buffs, of which there are many, won’t want to miss this one. Other viewers should decide based on their tolerance for talky, contemplative but rewarding cinema.
In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 98 minutes. Not rated (sexuality). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, east of Fifth Avenue.