Désordre (Disorder) (1986)

After serving his apprenticeship as a screenwriter for director André Techiné, former movie critic Olivier Assayas wrote and directed this film. In the story, a penniless girl and two similarly impoverished boys with ambitions of becoming a successful rock group are sorely in need of some instruments to play on. They decide to break into a music store and manage to get their hands on the instruments they need -- killing the proprietor in the process. Though the police never catch up with them, something else waylays these "tough" kids -- their consciences. Despondent over the killing, one of the young men commits suicide. The others are then confronted with their own feelings about their crimes and each other and cannot easily give themselves over to their quest to become musicians. One of the film's musical highlights is a performance of the Woodentops. This teen drama won the critic's prize at the 1987 Venice Film Festival. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi