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Plot: Live-action films about the very young are rare, and even more rare are such films that work as well as Ponette does, without cloying or pandering. The film stars 4-year old actress Victoire T...( read more read more... )hivisol as Ponette, who's lost her mother in a car accident. The rest of the film has her dealing with this loss, helped by relatives, but mostly by the other children she knows, and the help is sometimes heartening and sometimes hindering. The core events in the film are nearly all enacted by children, peers of Ponette. Sequenced as they are, they form what can only be termed the mythologies of childhood, using the contrast of childhood and death and the children's take on it to drive Ponette's changing attitudes. The result is seen passing across the face of Victoire Thivisol, one of the most luminous faces since Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. Filmed cannily in close-ups, we're always privy to the artless emotions of the young girl. She's not old enough yet to have learned to dissemble. Her direct, unaffected performance (if that's what it is) draws us close in as few films have been able to do. If you're unaffected by this film, you might want to reconsider what kind of organism you'd like to be other than a human being. Victoire Thivisol was named Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival 1996. --Jim Gay

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Recent Reviews

  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    August 1, 2008
    I first watched this film in September 1996 and I liked it, but it didn't really speak to me, since I was young. Then I watched it again some years later, and well...this film owns my heart to the full.
  • 4.5 Stars
    MCT:
    June 23, 2008
    The touching, not sappy or pretentious, story of a little girl who is trying to cope with the death of a parent. Wonderful performances by the children. Strongly recommended.
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    June 9, 2008
    wow, wow, wow. Words can't describe how beautiful this film is. Not only did it remind me how sweet and innocent we were in childhood, but it also brought back painful memories. The film provoked many different emotions from me, ranging from sadness, laughter, anger, adoration, and so much more!

    There has been a bit of a debate on the methods doillon may have used to get such genuine tears from such a small child. That is how genuine and heartbreaking thivisol's performance is.

    For any young person who has lost a parent, you know we can sort of shut out reality for a bit and keep to ourselves...I can only imagine at ponette's age what we how we would have coped. Probably the same way.

    I strongly suggest watching this alone first...becaue you will cry...A LOT.
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    June 8, 2008
    THE BEST SUBTITLED FILM I'VE EVER SEEN AND ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES! THE STAR (VICTOIRE THIVOSOL) WAS ONLY 4 YEARS OLD WHEN THIS WAS MADE AND SHE WON THE EQUIVALENT TO AN OSCAR FOR HER ROLE IS THIS FRENCH FILM. INTENSE EMOTIONAL DRAMA AT ITS RAWEST. IT IS AMAZING THAT SHE IS ONLY 4!! EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM THIS YOUNG ACTRESS!!!
    RODNEY KNOLTON
    MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
    RKNOLTON@GMAIL.COM
  • 4.0 Stars
    MCT:
    May 11, 2008
    A touching and deep film about accepting death, with one of the best performances I have ever seen, by a four year-old girl. Her face is unforgettable, simply put. It's one of the most beautiful films I've watched, and had me crying from the very start. Thinking objectively, it's not that good: it's slow, seldom boring and it fails to clarify its central ideas. However, this is mostly a subjective experience, a movie that is watched with the heart, and as such, hard to describe here. Go watch it.
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    February 6, 2008
    One of my favorite movies. While it's not the best in terms of pacing or story, it is absolutely worth it for the performance of Victoire Thivisol. The most amazing child performance I have ever seen. She will break your heart.
  • 4.5 Stars
    MCT:
    January 10, 2008
    The lead actress is only four years old but I haven't seen acting like this since then. Lots of close-ups. This movie is about loss and longing from a child's point of view. I highly recommend it!
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    September 4, 2007
    This movie is beautifully done with some of the best child actors I've seen in a long time. It is a bit sad, but clever, poignant, and heart-wrenching all in one.
  • 3.5 Stars
    MCT:
    June 29, 2007
    This little girl is amazing. What she can say without saying anything is the highlight of the movie. The directing sucked me right in.
  • 4.0 Stars
    MCT:
    June 23, 2007
    Amazingly moving performance by a child actor. Thivisol is so genuine that it seems unreal that a child so young could perform like that for the camera. The film itself is really good, but a bit slow in pace. Not a lot happens. Also, the payoff didn't quite sit right with me, but I give this film 4 stars as Victoire Thivisol's performance is hard not to watch without being amazed.
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    June 1, 2007
    This movie is so beautiful and touching. the star (Victoire Thivisol) is an AMAZING actress, The performances (especially the children's) are so real and natural that it's almost like watching a documentary.
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    April 22, 2007
    I cried uncontrollably through this movie. Heavy religious tone made me understand something more about the faithful.
  • 4.0 Stars
    MCT:
    January 18, 2007
    A brilliant foreign film, so don't come in to it with all your American expectations. The leading actress is absolutely brilliant, there are a lot of grown people who can't act half as good as that little girl.
  • 4.0 Stars
    MCT:
    December 29, 2006
    If it wasn't for my gf I would have cried through 3/4 of the movie. It is hard to belive this little girl is actually acting...
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    September 7, 2006
    Such a painful look of the world through the eyes of a 4 year old. A wonderful performance by Victoire Thivisol. Almost made me cry...
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    July 16, 2006
    A truly touching movie with brilliant acting by some of the most talented young actors I've ever seen. At the time this French film was produced, its protagonist was played by a 4-year old actress who carries this film on her small shoulders and carries it extremely well and better than most adult actors can only dream of carrying a film. The story is of an extremely sad nature and is very telling of how amazing these tiny thespians really are. To be able to act in a drama that deals with loss and tragedy and demands them to express a great amount of emotion not only showcases talent, but sucks you into the lives of these characters and makes you feel what they feel. By empathizing with a little thing like Ponette, you really feel for her and root for her until the very end. NOTE: French with English subtitles.
  • 5.0 Stars
    MCT:
    June 28, 2006
    Get out your hanky! About a little girl who loses her mother and how she suffers from the loss. I never cry during movies, but this one makes me cry my eyes out! (In French.)

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