Back in time, French director departs in troubled state (8)
I believe the answer is:
agitated
'in troubled state' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'back in time french director departs' is the wordplay.
'back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'time french' becomes 'ega' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'director' becomes 'Tati' (actor and director Jacques Tati).
'departs' becomes 'd' (abbreviation eg in train timetables).
'ega' placed around 'tati' is 'etatiga'.
'etatiga' in reverse letter order is 'agitate'.
'agitate'+'d'='AGITATED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for agitated that I've seen before include "Physically disturbed" , "Unsettled" , "Disturbed, shaken" , "Tried to stir up public opinion" , "Excited or troubled" .)