A Nos Amours (1985)

The greatest movie ever!

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is the story of a teenage French girl (Sandrine Bonnaire) with a difficult home life. Both her father (who abandons the family) and her older brother (who regularly physically assaults her) seem to have an unnatural interest in her sexuality, while her mother (who may the worst of them all) is a raving hysteric who eggs everyone else on. Not surprisingly, the girl is quite promiscuous, availing herself of any number of boys and men. In an American movie like this, her male paramours would at best be panting dogs and at worst villainous cads taking advantage of a vulnerable girl, but here they're probably the most sympathetic people in the movie! The young girl is not unsympathetic by any means, but she simply refuses to be a victim and remains firmly in control, and no family member or lover ultimately seems to have much chance against her. She is similar to the kind of "feminist lolitas" that often appear in Catherine Breillat movies like "A Real Young Girl" and "36 Fillete"-- teen girls that are very desirable, but also wise beyond their years and in perfect control of their own sexuality, and thus never simply mere sex objects. It's surprising Bonnaire never worked directly with Breillat because she is a much more self-assured and commanding actress than any of the ones Breillat did work with. I don't know if I believe the IMDb dates regarding Bonnaire's age as her assured acting (and her nude body) suggest that she was somewhat older than the character she's playing here, but she's very impressive regardless. Interestingly, while she became a very formidable actress in her later years (especially in films like Claude Chabrol's "Initiation"), she would not really be one of your more glamorous and sexy French actress. She certainly compares well to her contemporaries at the time like Emmanuelle Beart and Sophie Marceau, but while they would become leading ladies, she stayed more of a character actress.Ironically, the one problem I had with the movie is that Bonnaire and her character is perhaps TOO self-assured and as an actress Bonnaire tends to dominate the rest of the cast too much. It might be a feminist statement to have young female protagonist who is this self-confident, but I don't know that it's necessarily very realistic.

15-year old Suzanne (Sandrine Bonnaire) is a precocious child, living with her mother, her career-driven brother, and her sometimes overbearing father (played by Maurice Pialat). She has recently split from her boyfriend and is intent on moving from man to man in search of sexual pleasures and guardianship. When her father splits from her mother and moves out, home life becomes unbearable as her mother and brother disapprove of her lifestyle. She is most comfortable in the arms of a man, be it one of her seducers or her father. Men seems to flock to her, as she is pretty, charming and is happy to accommodate her admirers.This is the second film that I've seen directed by French master Maurice Pialat, the other being the excellent L'Enfance Nue. They are both similar films in terms of themes and execution, and tell the familiar coming-of-age story from an original perspective. Whereas the former was a sledgehammer portrayal of a young juvenile causing havoc amongst the various foster homes he was placed, where redemption never seems possible, A Nos Amours' Suzanne is a more sympathetic lead character, and her journey is portrayed in a more subtle manner. While it would be shocking to hear of a 15 year old girl bedding a number of men, Pialat is more focused on what drives her to act this way.She is not a tease, and she doesn't flaunt her body to anyone who will look. Instead, she seems to simply enjoy the comfort of a man. When the father moves away, her home life falls apart and her bed-mates increase. Perhaps Pialat is trying to portray the impact an absent father can have on a child, or that all women need comforting every once in a while. Or maybe this is an individual character study, with no overriding message. What it most definitely is, though, is a wonderfully acted (especially from the young Bonnaire), intelligent, and intriguing film that has Pialat's usual cold detachment alongside a certain intimacy with the lead character.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

The acting in this film is fine, but the film itself is very sad while somehow lacking much real substance. Suzanne, the troubled teen, wanders from boy to boy, showing us her lovely body and sweet smile, but she never seems to achieve any understanding. Her father, the most articulate character, talks a lot, but explains nothing. He is mostly just critical--especially of his son. Why does he walk out on his family?--oh, perhaps another woman, as Suzanne guesses, but we have seen no indication of what motivated him to leave. Many continuity problems contribute to making this film hard to follow. Suzanne leaves home in one outfit, has sex, then returns home in a totally different outfit. Is this supposed to represent different events or is it just sloppiness? The one character who seems to have any compassion is Jean-Pierre, the boy Suzanne marries and betrays. Poor lad. The film ends with Suzanne off to another man with Papa's blessing. No growth, no redemption. One can be reasonably sure Suzanne's latest adventure will end just as badly as all the previous

A fairly maddening French teen angst movie here, featuring one of the more bordering-on-hysterics performances I've seen in a long time.Sandrinne Bonnairre stars as a unsettled teenager growing up in France. She doesn't really pay attention to no one's advice about what to do in her life, sleeps with countless men, and gets into endless fights at home. She is a sad soul trying to make heads or tails about the men in her life, while her Mom and Brother just want her to concentrate on her studies.I wasn't too crazy about this film, sometimes boring, sometimes confusing. But Bonnairre is fantastic here, really getting into her character: Screaming, swearing and fighting her way through everyone. Mind you, they dish it out (and do they ever) on her as well.So, good performance, so so movie.