If there's something European film-makers excel at, it's making good, honest movies about being young. In comparison, American efforts in this genre are clumsy, artificial, sanitized, heavy-handed, overly safe and moralizingly preachy to a nauseating degree. In short, American films about youth rush to hit the viewer over the head with a hollow message and throw authenticity, frankness, the life of the soul, and the life of the body into the dumpster. It's as if the characters were intended merely as mouthpieces for ideas or agendas to placate various pressure groups.
"L'effrontee," however, portrays a vivid sense of place alive with real, breathing people. Raoul Billery is excellent as the widower father, a plain, strong tool-maker; but it is the remarkable Charlotte Gainsbourg who carries the film. She is fabulous as the 13-14 year old girl starting her journey to womanhood without her mother. She articulates the awkwardness, beauty and petulance of this age perfectly, as well as the first self-conscious inklings of her own emerging sex appeal. The strength here is that nothing of real life is artificially filtered out: The movie allows the girl to have the brain, the body, and the emotions to live fully and includes a poignant attraction to a beautiful piano prodigy and the dubious attentions of a significantly older (socially inept?) male. Charlotte Gainsbourg had me miffed at her character and cheering for her at the same time. My heart really went out to her. And man, does she have a trying summer! The only negative in "L'effrontee" is an irritating song that keeps cropping up - sounds like a French attempt to imitate Abba.
The film-makers did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of a sweltering summer. After watching this film, I'd like to see more films made by Claude Miller. And judging from this superlative early performance, I'm eager to see many other films starring Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Once you see this movie, you'll cringe when you try to go back to the shallow phoniness of John Hughes, Molly Ringwald or Matthew Broderick. Miss Gainsbourg and "L'effrontee" are the real thing - the cream of the crop.
"L'effrontee," however, portrays a vivid sense of place alive with real, breathing people. Raoul Billery is excellent as the widower father, a plain, strong tool-maker; but it is the remarkable Charlotte Gainsbourg who carries the film. She is fabulous as the 13-14 year old girl starting her journey to womanhood without her mother. She articulates the awkwardness, beauty and petulance of this age perfectly, as well as the first self-conscious inklings of her own emerging sex appeal. The strength here is that nothing of real life is artificially filtered out: The movie allows the girl to have the brain, the body, and the emotions to live fully and includes a poignant attraction to a beautiful piano prodigy and the dubious attentions of a significantly older (socially inept?) male. Charlotte Gainsbourg had me miffed at her character and cheering for her at the same time. My heart really went out to her. And man, does she have a trying summer! The only negative in "L'effrontee" is an irritating song that keeps cropping up - sounds like a French attempt to imitate Abba.
The film-makers did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of a sweltering summer. After watching this film, I'd like to see more films made by Claude Miller. And judging from this superlative early performance, I'm eager to see many other films starring Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Once you see this movie, you'll cringe when you try to go back to the shallow phoniness of John Hughes, Molly Ringwald or Matthew Broderick. Miss Gainsbourg and "L'effrontee" are the real thing - the cream of the crop.