7.6/10
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43 user 37 critic

Ponette (1996)

A four-year-old girl tries to come to terms with the sudden death of her mother.

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11 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Credited cast:
...
Delphine Schiltz ...
Delphine
Matiaz Bureau Caton ...
Léopoldine Serre ...
Ada
...
La mère
...
Claire Nebout ...
Aurélie Vérillon ...
Henri Berthon ...
L'Instituteur
Carla Ibled ...
Carla
Luckie Royer ...
Luce
Antoine du Merle ...
Antoine
Marianne Favre ...
Marianne
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hadrien Bouvier ...
Extra
Ben Lemaire ...
Anthony (as Benjamin Lemaire)
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Storyline

An extremely captivating movie on how a little girl copes with her mother's death. She withdraws from all the people around her, waiting for her mother to come back. She tries waiting, and when her mother still doesn't appear, tries magic chants, praying to God, and then becoming a child of God, to have some power over Him. All to no avail. But then, when she is in despair, her mother does come back ... Written by Rahul Dodhia <rdodhia@psych.columbia.edu>

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Drama

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Details

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Release Date:

14 March 1997 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Ponette  »

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Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,400,000
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Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The magic spell the kids say, "Ta'ali Takum", is actually the "Talitha koum" of Jesus. In Mark 5:41, Jesus says the phrase "Talitha koum" (Aramaic for "Little girl, get up") to a dead girl, when he resurrects her. See more »

Goofs

In the cemetery scene, Ponette is shown piling dirt onto her legs as she kneels beside the grave. In the next shot, her legs have no dirt and her pants are clean. See more »

Quotes

Ponette: God Almighty, you know my mommy is dead because she is with you. I want to talk to my mommy.
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User Reviews

Children are NOT little grown ups.
30 August 2004 | by See all my reviews

"Ponette" (French, 1996): We learn that a child lost her mother in a car accident. Ponette (the child), like all children, tries to blend the various truths given her by adults, other children, teachers, books, rumors, churches...eventually arriving at her own version of Truth...a Truth that allows her to move on, with some peace. No one seems to know what to DO for her, and so, her search is solo. What most ASTOUNDS me about "Ponette" is: 1) It's written NOT by grown ups who see children as small adults, but as true children - with all the confusion, magic, and hope we seem to lose as we age, and, 2) the ACTING of Victoire Thivisol ("Ponette") is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. She received numerous awards for this role, which upset some people - because she was only FOUR YEARS OLD at the time. "HOW CAN ANYONE HAVE TALENT AT FOUR?" Watch it for yourself. No one is beating her, no one is spraying lemon juice in her eyes, no one is tickling her feet...SHE is doing her own work. It's like she is channeling the next incarnation of Meryl Streep or someone. Since "Ponette", she has done two more films, including "Chocolat" (1999) with Juliette Binoche. She is now only TWELVE. I should live so long as to follow her entire career.


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