This Palme d’Or winner has a lot going for it in the way of performances, sequences, and ideas. Its view of hierarchies and repression—and the way that repression finds an outlet—remains fascinating, and would make an interesting double feature with The White Ribbon, which won the Palme d’Or 40 years later. However, its rebel hero is a bit thinly fleshed, and the frequent detours into abstraction ultimately make it feel like more of an artifact from 1968—when attitude was all you needed to smash the norm—than a story for the ages. But a compelling artifact it is, and students of 60s culture will find it plenty engaging.

7 out of 10.