User Reviews

I saw this film on TV5 last night. As it is a Swiss TV station, there are French sub-titles, which I find useful as I am trying to improve my spoken French. This is a genre that the French do particularly well. A young boy Jules (Benoit Magimel), living with his grandparents (Charles Aznavour & Francoise Arnoul - a blast from the past),in the Loire Valley, is seduced by a local child of nature - Evylene (Sophie Carle - a lovely understated performance). They go fishing together, she shows him where to look; they walk; talk; her overt sexuality confuses him. He withdraws to safer ground - family. And here again, the French have that wonderful facility for showing the gentle interaction of different age groups; simple family meals; gentle teasing. The local dance; the bullying of a simple boy; the jealous reaction of the rejected Evylene - are all portrayed without resorting to Hollywood artifice - the intrusive music that distracts & irritates. The scenes, when his parents, living in distant Milan, come to visit are very poignant as is the scene with his father in the hospital. The final parting, as Jules sits in the bus, followed by Eveylene on her bicycle are very moving. I found this film most satisfying & would love to see it again. Maybe in DVD format.

I enjoyed the film which I had bought on DVD, it would have helped if there had been subtitles even in French. Sometimes they talk quickly so to have subtitles to read helps the dialogue. As the description says it's about a young man spending the summer with his grandparents. There are twists towards the end which I won't go into to not to ruin the film for you.