Murmur of the Heart (1971)

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118 min - Drama - 17 October 1971 (USA)

7.7

Ratings: 7.7/10 from 3,341 users
Reviews: 31 user | 26 critic

This is a jolly coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy named Laurent Chevalier who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon... See full summary »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Lea Massari	...	Clara Chevalier
	Benoît Ferreux	...	Laurent Chevalier
	Daniel Gélin	...	Charles Chevalier
	Michael Lonsdale	...	Father Henri
	Ave Ninchi	...	Augusta
	Gila von Weitershausen	...	Freda (the prostitute)
	Fabien Ferreux	...	Thomas
	Marc Winocourt	...	Marc
	Micheline Bona	...	Aunt Claudine
	Henri Poirier	...	Uncle Leonce
	Liliane Sorval	...	Fernande
	Corinne Kersten	...	Daphne
	Eric Walter
	François Werner	...	Hubert
	René Bouloc	...	Man at Bastille Day party

Full cast and crew »

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Storyline

This is a jolly coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy named Laurent Chevalier who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon, France. This is France in the mid-1950s rather than America in the 1990s. Thus, Laurent is unharmed by events which would irreparably shatter the self-esteem of a modern American adolescent: he gets drunk, he smokes, he has sex, he is smothered by his mother, he is ignored by his father, a priest makes a pass at him, he gets rheumatoid fever, etc. There's enough scandalous behavior in this film to make 100 made-for-TV movies, and yet this is a very happy and oddly innocent tale. Written by Tim Horrigan <horrigan@aol.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Genres:

Drama

Parents Guide:

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Details

Official Sites:

Arte boutique [France] | Add/edit official sites »

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 October 1971 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

El soplo al corazón See more »

Filming Locations:

Dijon, Côte-d'Or, France

Box Office

Gross:

$1,160,784 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), Marianne Productions, Vides Cinematografica See more »

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

USA: 118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

See full technical specs »

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Did You Know?

Trivia

While the incest aspects of the story were not autobiographical, Louis Malle did in fact end up sharing a hotel room with his mother as a child while on a trip to treat his heart murmur due to "bizarre" circumstances. See more »

Goofs

Factual errors: During the chess match, the boys are sitting on what should be the spectator sides of the board, rather than the player sides. It appears that the chessmen were set up along the files rather than the ranks. (The lower right hand corner squares are black, when they should be white.) See more »

Connections

Featured in Geburtstagskinder der Nouvelle Vague (2007) See more »

Murmur of the Heart (1971)
Le souffle au coeur (original title)

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Writer:

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