There is a good chapter on Le Cinema du Look and fantasy film in
Contemporary French Cinema, an introduction, by Guy Austin
(Manchester University press, ISBN 0-7190-4611-4) pub. 1996. Others
dealt with in that chapter include Leos Carax, Luc Besson, and
Jean-Jacques Beneix. Note that the films function as a fantasy
reinterpretation of the German Occupation of France during WW2, a
historical subject which many other French films have reinterpreted.
The nocturnal effects recall Carne's Quai des Brumes (1938) and a
couple of moments (including the final scene on the rooftop) recall
Jean Vigo. [A couple of French accents missed out, sorry!]
