A tale of provincial life in the south of France focusing on the lives of two young people, brother and sister, who live together with their recently widowed father. It is as languid and slow moving as the summer heat.
Very little appears to happen. What story there is is oblique, subliminal, played out in peripheral vision. If you stick with it, and I strongly recommend that you do, it may linger in your mind long after the closing credits roll. I only began to really appreciate how much I'd enjoyed it the day after I'd watched it. It is an acutely observed, heart-warming, touching study of the realisation that must come to every adult - that it's time to leave the comfort and security of the family home, to make our own way in the world, to become ourselves, and to face all the pain and challenges that involves.
When I read the Director was only twenty three in one sense I wasn't surprised. The film, for me, perfectly captures the joy and pain of semi independent youth. It is a film that had to be made with these feelings fresh in mind. That the Director does this with such style, so beautifully, so subtly, is what really impressed me. The title, referring to a female character's hairstyle, is typical of the film. Nothing is addressed directly but the film, taken as a whole, is a wonderful evocation of a moment in life that I'm sure will strike a chord in everyone who watches it - even if you can't exactly put your finger on the reason why. It's charming, it's quintessentially French, and it's beautiful. I loved it.
Very little appears to happen. What story there is is oblique, subliminal, played out in peripheral vision. If you stick with it, and I strongly recommend that you do, it may linger in your mind long after the closing credits roll. I only began to really appreciate how much I'd enjoyed it the day after I'd watched it. It is an acutely observed, heart-warming, touching study of the realisation that must come to every adult - that it's time to leave the comfort and security of the family home, to make our own way in the world, to become ourselves, and to face all the pain and challenges that involves.
When I read the Director was only twenty three in one sense I wasn't surprised. The film, for me, perfectly captures the joy and pain of semi independent youth. It is a film that had to be made with these feelings fresh in mind. That the Director does this with such style, so beautifully, so subtly, is what really impressed me. The title, referring to a female character's hairstyle, is typical of the film. Nothing is addressed directly but the film, taken as a whole, is a wonderful evocation of a moment in life that I'm sure will strike a chord in everyone who watches it - even if you can't exactly put your finger on the reason why. It's charming, it's quintessentially French, and it's beautiful. I loved it.