Reviews & Ratings for
Murmur of the Heart More at IMDbPro »Le souffle au coeur (original title)

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Index

32 reviews in total

---

28 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
not as light as I totally expected, but with enough life and vibrancy to keep it from being dark either, 25 November 2006

Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

I wonder what Freudians would think of the relationship between Laurent (Benoit Ferreux) and Clara Chevalier (Lea Massari), son and mother, who for half the film are basically on their own as the son gets treatment for a heart ailment. Maybe it's hard to think anything about this, or to put such an easy label as 'oedipal' on this whole psychological criss-cross. But what's hard to deny is how much liveliness is in possibly Louis Malle's best film (that I've seen yet at any rate). It's a tale of innocence lost, but then again in a family where it's not a high commodity anyway. Laurent is surrounded by older brothers who get him into parties with alcohol, and even to a brothel where he awkwardly loses his virginity. He also is a choirboy, does excellently in school, has an intellectual side that runs deep, and goes to confess his sins (from time to time) for the priest. But then there's something about his Mother, when he sees her get into a car he doesn't recognize or rides off with someone mysterious, that ignites his confused flame of first-hitting-puberty sexual jealousy. And it all leads up to Bastille day.

Murmur of the Heart is not a picture really bent on anything with a solid plot, as it's more concerned with the kind of European 'character study' (not that there isn't a story there to look at it). I read Ebert's review and he mentioned that the picture is more about the mother than the son. I could see where that viewpoint comes from, but I have to think that it's more about both of them, and while I watched it (as opposed to now thinking about it once its ended) it seemed more concerned with the son and perpetually through his point of view. He doesn't totally understand why his mother feels the way she does, and why she runs off to her other man, torn between leaving her gynecologist husband for him. But Malle makes it seem torn between each side when Laurent is left at the hotel while Clara is away for two days. His confusion leads him into a kind of disarray that's been hinted at before, and its made all the more clear in the tension- very underneath their games and witty remarks- that builds up.

But even with such an idea for the film, it is never really ugly or trashy. If anything, Malle does the best thing possible by making such a taboo subject realistic around the situation of family and the period. It's really wonderful seeing how Malle directs the smaller scenes, the bits that a director usually wouldn't bother with for emotional sake, or the little bits of dialog that do go on in the real world that don't necessarily have to do much with the rest of the story (one of those is when Laurent is getting washed down with a hose at the medical clinic, and the woman washing him goes on a long tangent of talk, not conversationally, just to hear herself talk). It could be tricky dealing with such mundane aspects of life such as brothers hanging out and goofing off, but there's layers of masculinity that get thrown in the mix (what are we to make of when the boys measure 'themselves' with a ruler, much to the angry housekeeper's dismay, or when Laurent tries out her mothers make-up I wondered).

All the while Malle bases these characters in an entirely plausible environment and with a cast that works very well. Massari is almost TOO alluring a woman to be anyone's mother, least of which the headstrong and vulnerable Laurent, but this works to show what her frame of mind must be too, as she gets as much attention (in a different way of course) as Laurent does from the teenage girls. The actor playing Laurent is a first-timer here ala Leaud in 400 Blows, but I even got a Bresson feeling from him, of there being a lot of emotions buried underneath his usually calm and poised expression, the kind that can be felt even with just the slightest hints. He's perfect for the kind of kid who's still a bit much in his own desires and wants to see what may happen from all of this in the long term. But the psychological implications are left even more to chance by the ending, which is one of the best moments Malle has ever directed as the family all laughs together. Not to forget to mention another big plus, the film is filled with one of the best jazz soundtracks ever put together (including Parker, Bechet, Gillespie among others), and an exquisite use of period and very tasteful way about the more 'graphic' parts of the film. Murmur of the Heart shows in tragic-comic detail the sophistication and lewd sides of the French, and draws a lot to ponder about a boy's crossover in that rotten period of 14-15 years old and of a woman who has the same mixture of unstable emotions and child-like ideals of her own blood that pull the two into what happens. In totally unconventional terms, it's 'magnifique'. A+

---

34 out of 44 people found the following review useful:
Sophisticated naughtiness, 30 March 2006

Author: epat from Japan

This is one of my all-time favorite films.

Young Laurent Chevalier, his mother & his roguish elder brothers break every taboo known to small-town 1950s Dijon: underage drinking, underage sex, blasphemy, incest, petty theft, adultery, art forgery, whoremongering, drunk driving... What more can you ask? Malle treats their escapades with such lighthearted sympathy & wit you can't help liking them.

Before I first saw Soufflé au Coeur, I read a blurb for it in the monthly listings of my local repertory cinema that ran something like this (I quote from memory): "This film does a lot to restore the French to their former reputation for sophisticated naughtiness." I can't sum it up any better than that.

---

27 out of 36 people found the following review useful:
A Masterpiece., 11 December 2003
Author: Tony Collette from London

'Murmur of the Heart' is an experience that sneaks up on you like the combined years of one's youth. The subject matter is what the repressed might reductively characterize as simple incest. That is NOT what this film is about. It is about the elastic moment of adolescence. The strange, ugly, and beautiful contradictions of familial intimacy. A boy deperate to taste the pleasures of being a man - while stuck in an awkward inbetween physical, and pyschic geography. This is one of the strongest films in all of French cinema.

---

14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Malle's finest...., 9 October 2006

Author: movedout

It's high comedy. It's French bourgeois lifestyle. Louis Malle's delicate style of working with taboo subject matter reached a personal plateau with a dysfunctional household in "Murmur of the Heart", an early reach back into his own garden of memories and familial idiosyncrasies that he has stringently plucked from over the years. He approaches it with an innocent intent, cheeky, but still innocent nonetheless. Through the nostalgic and mean-spirited jibes at the domestic help, clergy and stiff-lipped crust of high society, it commences on a journey of an adolescent male, Laurent Chevalier (Benoit Ferreux) in Dijon, France circa 1954. He longs to break free to that stage of enlightened adulthood that seems just within reach but yet so very far. But within its pith, it's the very antithesis of melodrama. Taking on its inviolable subject matter's horns with both hands, it wrangles it to the ground while giving us something to think about. It's definitely not about exorcising ghosts of the past but to let them regale us with stories of unforgettable youth.

After 35 years, "Murmur of the Heart" still rings truer and closer to home than most contemporary comedies (and even dramas) revolving around the "coming of age" and "sexual awakening" in a young teen. It's also more daring and liberal in its construction of key family members being part of that very natural formation of sexual DNA and identity. They discuss philosophy. They discuss suicide. They discuss "The Story of O". Laurent and his 2 older brothers consort in disrespectfully petty behaviour contrary to what their upbringing holds sacred. Laurent's a top student, an intellectual that sees the world around him as a playground. It's a smalltime superiority complex as he defines his sensitive sensibilities with discernment beyond his years and a haughty disregard for divergent thoughts with a self-important air.

Revolving primarily about Laurent and his mother, Clara ("L' avventura's" Lea Massari), it's a refreshing look at a parental relationship based around adoration and fondness (coming under constant mocking by his brothers) than the contemporaneous and contemptuous notion of disdain and rebelliousness surrounding the authority figures and generational gaps. It underlines the idiom of a mother being her son's first love. In its essence, it encapsulates many complicated mother-child relationships including the emotional Oedipal issues that do crop up. And through that, a lovely parallelism is wrought with its interpretation of a woman who wants to be a girl and a boy who wants to be a man.

Conforming to an almost sitcom style, its self-dependent, autonomous scenes and situations just about start to border on farcical proportions. Its characters place sex and carnality high up on a pedestal, while Malle condescendingly films it as something so pedestrian and run-of-the-mill, not worth the hype and excitement over it anyway. He makes the patient, inevitable buildup to a key sex scene that had caused controversy when it was first released, to seem more natural and accepting than he does the sexual encounters that actually do seem the norm in society.

---

9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Coming of Age Story with Oedipus Complex, 4 December 2010

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In 1954, in the Spring, the fourteen year-old boy Laurent Chevalier (Benoît Ferreux) lives with his Italian mother Clara Chevalier (Lea Massari); his father, the gynecologist Charles Chevalier (Daniel Gélin); and his teenager brothers Thomas (Fabien Ferreux) and Marc (Marc Winocourt) in an upper-class neighborhood in Dijon. Laurent is fan of jazz, and Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie are his favorite musicians. He also likes to read Proust and other prominent writers. Laurent is very close to his mother and he discovers that she has a lover named Jacques. However, Charles ignores his younger son. Thomas and Marc take Laurent to a brothel but while having his first intercourse, he is interrupted by his drunken brothers. When the doctor finds that Laurent has a murmur in his heart, he suggests that the boy should go to Bourbon-les-Eaux to heal and Clara stays with him in the same room. Along the days, Laurent befriends the teenagers Helene (Jacqueline Chauvaud) and Daphne (Corinne Kersten); on the Bastille Day, Jacques dumps Clara and she celebrates the holiday with Laurent. They drink a lot and when they return to their room, they have an incestuous relationship.

"Le Soufflé de Couer" is a coming of age story with Oedipus complex of a young boy in France in the 50's. The story of Louis Malle is politically incorrect in accordance with the present standards of Hollywood but absolutely acceptable in 1971, the year of "Summer of 42". The fourteen year-old boy has an incestuous relationship with his mother; is molested by a priest; smokes; drinks; shoplifts; has sex with prostitute; cheats; drives reckless on the road with his brothers, but all the situations are credible and developed very naturally. The sexual tension between Laurent and Clara is present from the beginning to the end and Lea Massari is extremely beautiful and sexy. The first half is quite pointless but the second half is a very provocative film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Sopro do Coração" ("A Murmur in the Heart")

---

13 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
Moving, controversial but lovable film, 13 September 2004

Author: (sylviastel@aol.com) from United States

Louis Malle perhaps has directed his most controversial film about Laurent and his complicated relationship with his mother. Because he is the youngest of three boys, he is still a virgin and coddled like the family baby. The film seems to last forever but in a beautiful moving way. We watch as his beautiful Italian vivacious mother seems to attract admirers even her own son. Without discussing the film's oedipal issues, the film has some very pleasant scenes and some that are not so pleasant. Maybe Malle is trying to bring reality of a young body's sexuality. His two older brothers are not the sympathetic or kind older brothers to him especially. Laurent is truly the film's most important character but his mother is definitely the most important figure in his life. As he comes of age, she has to grasp with losing him to another woman, the inevitable outcome of any mother-son relationship. We learn a lot about Laurent's mother too in this film. While sexuality is another theme in this classic film, there are touching scenes between the Laurent and his mother. As he finds himself attracted to other women, he becomes daring, insulting and even unlikable. I won't give away the ending of this film. But it's worth watching even today more than 30 years later, I cannot believe it's older than me. It seems like it could have been done today and that's why it's a classic film.

---

5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Breaking taboos., 27 September 2006

Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A French film about the relationship between a teen-aged boy (Ferreux) and his mother (Massari). Well, I guess more generally it is about Ferreux' coming of age, a kind of Bildungsfilm, because other characters play a part in his development -- a girl his age, a priest and tutor, and so forth.

Ferreux and Massari are a little closer, a little more playful together than a boy and his mother should be, and there are little warnings along the way that his budding sexuality is budding in what most people would consider not quite the right direction. The bud bursts into bloom at the end but nobody seems to care very much. Massari says it was a sacred and secret moment but will never happen again. And one supposes that afterward Ferreux takes off after that winsome blonde of his own age rather than rifling through his mother's underwear.

The performances are fine. Man, Ferreux looks as if he might have grown into that English actor who played James Whale in "Gods and Monsters" but whose name escapes me. It will come to me sooner or later but too late to use it here. The story of my life -- we'll call it "Plus Tarde." He's a pretty good actor for such a young kid. Totally natural, though a bit serious. Listens to Charlie Parker, of whom we hear a few shards during the story. Whew, what blistering runs, what genius.

Lea Massari is just about the right age and temperament for her role. She was a lot more dangerous before she disappeared in "L'Avventura," with her fulgurating sexuality. Here she's matter of fact about things, candid in her discussions with her son, clips his toe nails for him, sings happily while accompanying herself on the guitar, shrugs everything off. I think this is called "savoir-faire". It's kind of like having a constitutional Prozac-generator. She's just old enough for the part but has lost none of her foxy edge.

The priest senses something may be a little bent but his warning hints go unregarded. There are no moments of high drama. Nobody seems to worry too much about anything. Maybe it's the Dijon mustard in their diet, but whatever it is we should all have more of it. A genuinely good-natured movie about taking things just seriously enough -- not too little and not too much. Bird plays under the closing credits, a thoroughly apt petit cadeau.

Enjoy it.

---

8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Marvelous Malle, 9 April 2006

Author: kenjha

Touching coming-of-age story focuses on the youngest of three sons of a French gynecologist and his wife in Paris in the 1950s. Malle does a wonderful job of showing the relationships between the family members, helped by fine acting by all, particularly Massari as the beautiful mother and Ferreux as the gawky 15-year old son. As with Malle's "Pretty Baby," issues of sexuality are handled without hangups, even if it involves children. It is well known that one of the central themes of this film is incest but rather than being disturbing or exploitative, it is presented in a surprisingly tender manner without being judgmental.

---

13 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
a beautiful coming of age story, 30 June 2001

Author: zetes from Saint Paul, MN

There have been a million coming of age stories in the history of the world, most of them probably in the film medium. What a pathetic thing to have to endure something as trite as the American film American Pie when something like The 400 Blows exists. Murmur of the Heart will remind most of that classic, and, akin to French films such as Zero for Conduct, The 400 Blows, and Malle's own Au Revoir Les Enfantes, it is excellently acted, both by the adults in the film and the children (here, though, they're teens), and it is infinitely more truthful than most American films of the same genre. Murmur of the Heart falls just short of The 400 Blows, but it is a worthy successor to it. Beware, though. This film's main theme is sexuality, and there are some very disturbing scenes, even thought the mood of the film is quite light-hearted. 9/10

---

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A Piece to Confound, Move, Spark Debate - in other words, a work of Art, 17 January 2010
Author: Topher-Liam Froehlich from United States

La Soufflé au Coeur (Murmer of the Heart)

I have nothing but respect for this woefully under-seen masterwork from the criminally underrated director Louis Malle (a French New Wave Maverick constantly overshadowed by the likes of Godard and Truffaut). I have no qualms in citing it as a work of indisputable Art - and what makes it (for me) so inarguable in this regard, is that this film is invested with personal expression. You can hate it, love it, call it boring and slow, or mediative and subtle - any which way can be argued, any which way is correct. The film sticks to its guns, to its unique vision, from its opening frame until its last and can leave an individual stunned, confounded, moved or maybe all of these things at once. I can't imagine anyone watching this and not having something to discuss or mull over and think about afterwards - regardless of whether or not they liked it. For something to be so complex, to get such equal amounts of love and hate, to spark so many opinions and emotions in viewers, that makes it an indisputable work of art in my mind.

The story is minimal, almost plot less - covering the daily, seemingly uneventful experiences of a 15-year-old boy named Laurent Chevalier (Benoît Ferreux). Chevalier is tormented by his older brothers, is at odds with his distant father, is an excellent student and and avid reader but is uncomfortable in the presence of his domineering teachers, and only seems to be at ease when in the company of his mother (Lea Massari). Like works such as "The 400 Blows" or "Rebel Without a Cause" the film captures the feeling of being a youth -alienation, confusion, awkward recollections and experiences, frustration but also curiosity, joy, blossoming romance, the need to find oneself, etc - without ever coming across as sentimental or solemn, and never seeming to compromise its truthfulness. The themes are familiar, done time and again in coming-of-age tales, but what makes this stand out is the personal investment Malle brings to the table (the piece is cited by many critics and by the Criterion group as being semi-autobiographical).

I love the film's loose structure, how rather than follow a strict story its scenes seem to build together to create a collage of Chevalier's lifestyle. The visual style created by Malle and cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich is rich in color, but in an understated manner - the camera-work never jumps at you, but rather immerses you, doesn't call attention to itself. Its simple, not often used jazz score blends well into the atmosphere. The actors are all fine in their roles (of the supporting players, the naturalistic portrayals by Fabien Ferreux and Marc Winocourt, as Laurent's brothers, stick out most in my mind), but of particular note are the two leads. Ferreux makes an interesting lead - not entirely sympathetic or relate-able, but a performer who remains watchable for he is able to convey much while seeming to do very little (the mark of great acting). The stand-out for me was easily Massari - gentle and loving, ridiculously alluring, and completely vulnerable when the scene called for it.

I could lavish the compliments for several pages more. This film is an essential viewing for lovers of cinema, in particular movies that spark intelligent discussion. A true piece of personal expression. Grade: A+

---

---

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Awards
External reviews	Parents Guide	Official site
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user reviews
Your vote history