Philippe Garrel - La Cicatrice Intérieure

La Cicatrice intérieure of Philippe Garrel, 60', 1972

with: Nico, Philippe Garrel, Pierre Clementi, Christian Päffgen, Daniel Pommereulle, Balthazar Clémenti, Jean-Pierre Kalfon

"In 1972, Nico sang and shouted in the New Mexico desert, in the snowy plains of Iceland, and in the charred landscapes of Egypt. Philippe Garrel shot La Cicatrice intérieure as the ultimate film-trip to the most desolate territories of the world. This masterwork's echo is heard even in Gus Van Sant (Gerry) and Vincent Gallo (The Brown Bunny), a mythical love story between a gifted filmmaker and his ghostly icon." - Les Inrockuptibles

You can't ask questions of La Cicatrice intérieure, you just have to enjoy watching it, in the same way as you'd enjoy taking a walk in the desert. The film is a record of what was going through my head at the time of the shoot; it can consist only of traces and marks. - Philippe Garrel

La Cicatrice intérieure justifies everything I have been pushing for. La Cicatrice intérieure is a masterpiece, supposedly, as long as you don't understand German. I myself consider the film to be a masterpiece. A total masterpiece. I can't explain it... all of a sudden, the whole of humanity, the whole planet is speaking – the planet as in the ancient sense of the mother. But it's not even the planet that's speaking, it's the soil... It's incredible, it's all in there. - Henri Langlois