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FRENCH | 95 MINUTES | BRATTLE Actors played characters imitating actors in Jean-Luc Godard’s À bout de souffle. No such self-reflection occurs in Benoît Jacquot’s À tout de suite. Adapting a true story, Jacquot uses pseudo–Nouvelle Vague hand-held b&w camerawork to pursue Lili (Isild Le Besco), a bored 19-year-old art student in Paris in 1975. At a club she gloms onto some rough trade, in particular Bada (Ouassini Embarek), a baby-faced Arab crook who becomes a fugitive after a botched bank job. Lili doesn’t have to be asked twice to tag along, and she becomes part of the fleeing gang that includes another would-be Bonnie & Clyde couple. Their goal seems mere instant gratification, and perhaps it’s no accident that Jacquot makes no effort to involve you in their inner lives. Le Besco has made a big impression on some as a rising star, but it’s probably because of her frequent nude scenes rather than her insipid grin.
BY PETER KEOUGH
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