It's been a long time since I've so vehemently disagreed with a high average rating.
The "plot" has so many holes in it that it becomes laughable. We're really meant to believe that this little girl is more concerned with and terrified by the death of a dog than her parents? This family of half-wits would haven really taken her in? A boy of that age is going to be so enamoured with a girl (?!?) that he's going to adopt her in that manner and be willing to steal for her? What I saw was a mediocre attempt to use children to sell a movie to adults. Clearly, most saw something quite different. The only thing I came away from this film with was, one hopes, a somewhat accurate view of poverty in rural France during and before WWII.
Far better, less manipulative yet more moving films involving children are Kolya, Where the Wild Things Are, Son of Rambow, Billy Elliott, Central Station, Little Miss Sunshine, Close to Leo, Ma view en Rose or the Harry Potter series. If this film helped people trying to get over the tragedy and aftermath of WWII, mission accomplished. In the 21st century, to me, it's a second rate competitor with infomercials on late night cable.
The "plot" has so many holes in it that it becomes laughable. We're really meant to believe that this little girl is more concerned with and terrified by the death of a dog than her parents? This family of half-wits would haven really taken her in? A boy of that age is going to be so enamoured with a girl (?!?) that he's going to adopt her in that manner and be willing to steal for her? What I saw was a mediocre attempt to use children to sell a movie to adults. Clearly, most saw something quite different. The only thing I came away from this film with was, one hopes, a somewhat accurate view of poverty in rural France during and before WWII.
Far better, less manipulative yet more moving films involving children are Kolya, Where the Wild Things Are, Son of Rambow, Billy Elliott, Central Station, Little Miss Sunshine, Close to Leo, Ma view en Rose or the Harry Potter series. If this film helped people trying to get over the tragedy and aftermath of WWII, mission accomplished. In the 21st century, to me, it's a second rate competitor with infomercials on late night cable.