I feel like everyone has questions
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 51 Movies of 2021
#3 : Petite Maman
A spellbinding ghost story from Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Céline Sciamma. <something happens> in a moving tale of memory, friendship and family
This is another one that I know got good write-ups and I'm looking forward to - it's got a very neat concept and also Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is a very fine film, so it's always good to see what directors do to follow up something you've really enjoyed.
And well - I'm not entirely sure what I can say about this. A girl has recently lost her grandmother and the film explores the way grief affects her and her parents in a very interesting manner. The central concept is a really neat idea and whilst the film doesn't go out of its way to hide it (although this must have been tempting), I was disappointed I knew about it beforehand - which is why I've censored it in the description above. It certainly didn't ruin the film for me, but not knowing would have given me an extra something. But the film as a whole is a lovely bittersweet mix of joy and sadness and it has a lovely, lovely ending. Really - it's just SO lovely.
Central to the film is a wonderfully natural pair of performances by Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz - they behaved in exactly the way I remember my eight year olds behaving. Nina Meurisse as "the mother" (as she's billed, although we do get to learn her name) is also very good as a woman lost to grief and Stéphane Varupenne as "the father" (I don't think we learn his name) is also good as the husband unsure how to help, other than by keeping an eye on his daughter. And we might as well complete the whole of the billed cast by mentioning a fine but minor performance by Margo Abascal as "the grandmother" - there are a few other people at the beginning of the film, but it's certainly not Avengers Assemble.
This is a much more natural looking film than Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, but it's still very beautifully shot and complements the natural performances. And special kudos goes to the location scout who found the really cool lake with a pyramid in the middle of it - which has a cave inside it! How great is that?
It's a really well written film which features some heartbreaking conversations between the two major characters which somehow manage to be life-affirming as well. It poses some really interesting questions that I can't really go into too much but they explore guilt, regret, love, grief - all the light topics, I guess. All in all, it's a good but simple idea done charmingly well and not overly drawn out - there's no danger of this film overstaying its welcome (it's a mere 72 minutes long). Like the last one, if you're in the mood for a proper grown-up film then I can thoroughly recommend this.
At the time of writing, it's available to rent at all the usual locations.
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