EDWARD AND CAROLINE

Pianist Edward and his wife Caroline are expected at a party at the house of her affluent uncle. Edward plans to use the opportunity to wow the gathering’s guests with his musical abilities. But the couple engages in a lingering argument before the party and it threatens to torpedo their night out.

“Once the assistant to Jean Renoir, the great but underseen Jacques Becker serves as a generational bridge to the French New Wave. The jazzy vitality, sharp insight, and comic aplomb of this 1951 portrait of a young relationship leads directly to Breathless, Rohmer, and Truffaut. A delightful gem.