Just before World War II, a 12-year-old girl leaves Paris with her parents for a summer vacation in the country. Instead of playing with her friends there, she develops an adolescent (hence the film's title) infatuation with a 30-year-old doctor that has recently joined the village. The older man, understandably, does not return her affections but instead manifests an even less-advised interest in the girl's Dutch mother.
3 Reviews
Interesting study of psychology in the young adult
Chris_Docker2 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Described by her autobiographer as 'very personal', this film directed by Jeanne Moreau beautifully evokes the rural charm of central France, 'the land of sleeping volcanoes'. And then goes on to look at the coming of age of a young girl.
Simone Signoret is a solid anchor for the other performances and helps us overlook the film's weaknesses, which include syrupy music, and a content that is heavily laden with childish silliness for an adult audience but maybe too frank (at least in their parents' eyes) for younger viewers.
It concerns a young girl's growing pains, her horror and embarrassment at periods, her infatuation with an older man, competition with mother for his affections, and eventually choosing the right path for the wrong reasons. As a role model, the girl (Marie) is complex and illustrative rather than exemplary, although it handles the need for separation from a mother's influence more realistically than most films would.
Simone Signoret is a solid anchor for the other performances and helps us overlook the film's weaknesses, which include syrupy music, and a content that is heavily laden with childish silliness for an adult audience but maybe too frank (at least in their parents' eyes) for younger viewers.
It concerns a young girl's growing pains, her horror and embarrassment at periods, her infatuation with an older man, competition with mother for his affections, and eventually choosing the right path for the wrong reasons. As a role model, the girl (Marie) is complex and illustrative rather than exemplary, although it handles the need for separation from a mother's influence more realistically than most films would.
Easily overlooked masterpiece
popdrome10 June 2006
Directed by no-one less than Jeanne Moreau, this movie, known for it's quality as one of the standards in the 'Coming of age' genre, is far more than that. It's a story about 'La douceur de vivre', or the 'The gentle way of life' - the pureness of French country-life in the years before the second world war. It's an extremely well crafted story of love, death and life, and the little secrets the villagers share, seen through the eyes of a perfectly authentic 13-year-old girl.
Simone Signoret gives a stunning performance, subtle and genuine, as the grand-mere (Mamie) of Marie, guiding her grandchild through the summer and her first encounters with love and romance. Marie falls in love with a Jewish doctor, 30 years of age, only to find that the doctor has more interest in her Dutch mother, who is in the middle of marital troubles with her dominant spouse. Marie realizes she will be the only one who can save her parents marriage and, with the help of Mamie, consults the local 'witch' to create a love-potion.
The question is, will everything return to normal, before the end of summer? And if war awaits, will life ever be the same again? One thing's for sure: you'll only lose childhood once, and it will never return...
Simone Signoret gives a stunning performance, subtle and genuine, as the grand-mere (Mamie) of Marie, guiding her grandchild through the summer and her first encounters with love and romance. Marie falls in love with a Jewish doctor, 30 years of age, only to find that the doctor has more interest in her Dutch mother, who is in the middle of marital troubles with her dominant spouse. Marie realizes she will be the only one who can save her parents marriage and, with the help of Mamie, consults the local 'witch' to create a love-potion.
The question is, will everything return to normal, before the end of summer? And if war awaits, will life ever be the same again? One thing's for sure: you'll only lose childhood once, and it will never return...
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