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Starring Victoire Thivisol, Xavier Beauvois, Claire Nebout, Marie Trintignant. Written and
Directed by Jacques Doillon. French, with subtitles.
4 year-old Ponette (Victoire Thivisol) is in a car crash with her mother, suffering a broken arm.
But her mother suffers serious brain and chest injuries and dies. Her father consoles his daughter, but shortly
after takes off on business, leaving Ponette to grieve with her aunt and cousins. Ponette does not understand
death and its finality, and tries many ways to bring her mother back so she can talk to mommy. Her
Dad gruffly tells her that God and Jesus are for the dead, but of no consequence for those still living.
Her aunt tells Ponette her mom is in heaven, but that Jesus came back from the dead, so Ponette
figures maybe her Mom can come back too. Ponette receives conflicting advice from her cousins,
teacher and school chums on how she can talk to her mom, on God and Jesus, and the meaning of
death.
Thivisol won the best actress prize at the 1996 Venice Film Festival for her work, and she
is amazing. One Toronto review slammed even the possibility of this, writing that this was an insult
to all other actors, since children can't possibly act - they are just playing, and will do whatever the
director tells them to. While children will not possess the technique of an older actor, they can be
what most of their elders cannot - natural. But children can act, and make acting choices. Supposedly,
Director Doillon said he explained the emotional states necessary for various scenes, but never asked
Thivisol to cry.
She does it on her own volition several times. In one scene, a crying Ponette prays to God that
he will let her mother come back and talk to her, and it is as moving a scene as you'll ever see,
totally believable. Her performance is award worthy - her role requires her to carry the entire film, and
she does. While the film sometimes moves a bit slowly, it's interesting to consider life and death from
the children's point of view. Occasionally, an adult sensibility creeps into the narrative, but for the
most part the kid's point-of-view rules. In one scene, Ponette's exposes her chest for her male cousin to
rub to make her feel better. I was just waiting for an adult to enter
the room to catch them in the act, and correct them for their misguided activities. But that adult point-of-
view does not intrude, and the film moves to the next scene without interuption. The film feels realistic
and natural throughout - except for the ending. It was a disappointment to me, and for me contradicted the
realism of the rest of the movie. Overall, Ponette is an enjoyable contrast to a summer of mayhem
and explosions.
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