Ponette is a 4 year old girl who has survived a car crash that killed her mother. Victoire Thivisol is the actress who plays Ponette. Other than a few scenes with adults, this young girl carries the entire film. She is amazing! Her interaction with the other children is real - you forget that she is "acting". In one particular scene, Ponette sheds tears for her mom - the tears are real. Director Jacques Doillon has a magic touch with all of the young actors in this film. His extreme close-ups of their faces vividly reveals their emotions.
For 92 minutes you are brought into Ponette's world. You share in her grief, her friendships, her imagination and her innocence. In doing so, you also escape back into your own childhood. By seeing everything through Ponette's eyes, you recall all of the different kids most of us grew up with. You also see how confusing it can be for a child when adults tell them tales just to appease them.
Ponette desperately wants her mother back. In some fine examples of how impressionable and vulnerable children can be, Ponette will try or do anything to get her back. To soothe Ponette, her aunt tells her that like Jesus, her mom will come back from the dead. This results in Ponette isolating herself from her cousins and waiting every day on the top of a hill for her mom to appear.
In a poignant scene, which shows how mean kids can be at times, a boy tells Ponette that her Mom is dead because she wasn't a nice child, but Ponette fights back and stands up for herself. In another scene, which depicts the "bossy" kid, a young girl tells Ponette that she can be a "child of God" and speak to her mom but first she has to pass a variety of little tests such as jumping from stone to stone without touching the dirt (which the girl depicts as hot lava from Hell).
Throughout the film you watch and FEEL Ponette's growing pains. The emotions will be mixed. You'll see Ponette grow as a person but you'll also see Ponette lose some of that precious childhood innocence. In order not to spoil the ending for anyone, I'll just say two words about it: Mystical & Sweet.
The film is in French with English subtitles, but please don't let this discourage you. After 5 minutes you'll have escaped back to your childhood and you won't even realize you're reading.
Rating: ***
For 92 minutes you are brought into Ponette's world. You share in her grief, her friendships, her imagination and her innocence. In doing so, you also escape back into your own childhood. By seeing everything through Ponette's eyes, you recall all of the different kids most of us grew up with. You also see how confusing it can be for a child when adults tell them tales just to appease them.
Ponette desperately wants her mother back. In some fine examples of how impressionable and vulnerable children can be, Ponette will try or do anything to get her back. To soothe Ponette, her aunt tells her that like Jesus, her mom will come back from the dead. This results in Ponette isolating herself from her cousins and waiting every day on the top of a hill for her mom to appear.
In a poignant scene, which shows how mean kids can be at times, a boy tells Ponette that her Mom is dead because she wasn't a nice child, but Ponette fights back and stands up for herself. In another scene, which depicts the "bossy" kid, a young girl tells Ponette that she can be a "child of God" and speak to her mom but first she has to pass a variety of little tests such as jumping from stone to stone without touching the dirt (which the girl depicts as hot lava from Hell).
Throughout the film you watch and FEEL Ponette's growing pains. The emotions will be mixed. You'll see Ponette grow as a person but you'll also see Ponette lose some of that precious childhood innocence. In order not to spoil the ending for anyone, I'll just say two words about it: Mystical & Sweet.
The film is in French with English subtitles, but please don't let this discourage you. After 5 minutes you'll have escaped back to your childhood and you won't even realize you're reading.
Rating: ***