A Nos Amours (1985)

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

A Nos Amours is the story of Suzanne, a promiscuous young girl with a troubled home life. In spite of their wealth, her family is very dysfunctional and pretty much every one of them (Suzanne, her brother, and her two parents) hits every other one at some point in the movie but the abuse they dish out is verbal just as often as it is physical. As a result, Suzanne is already in the early stages of being a slut by the time she is sixteen. As the film begins she has been dating a young man who really seems to care about her but she is unwilling to share any type of intimacy with him. It isn't long before we see Suzanne having sex with strangers or casual acquaintances who are less likely to want a real emotional bond with her and hence pose less of a threat to her fragile mental state.Pialat's style in this film could be defined as minimalist but he still covers a pretty big stretch of Suzanne's life. The film's very loose chronology is completely linear but different amounts of time take place between each scene. Early on it seems that the entire film will take place over one year of Suzanne's life but before long there are entire months or years between scenes. Some major events happen but none of them are really explored with any depth. For me this is the film's major flaw: since major plot events (and there are many) are briefly shown or only hinted at we can't see how each character reacts and the film is robbed of all dramatic impact. Once I realized that the film was inherently undramatic I began to expect some sort of character based movie but Pialat completely fails at creating three dimensional characters. I suppose the idea here must have been to keep it universal and make some sort of statement about the impossibility of people to connect to each other even when they have the most reason to do so. This message comes off as trite at best and misanthropic at worst. I suppose the misery porn crowd that digs melodrama and cynicism will be likely to enjoy this film but I imagine they'll be the only ones.

Sandrine Bonnaire has matured into one of the finest French actresses of her generation - and incidentally directed a fine documentary about her handicapped sister, Sabine - yet this is only early promise fulfilled as this movie illustrates. Just sixteen when it was shot Bonnaire exudes the confidence of someone twice her age and easily dominates the film against fine support including Oliver Reed lookalike director Pialat himself as the father, absent during the central section of the movie, who is clearly responsible for Bonnaire's drifting from man to man. Dysfunctional families are seldom the basis for 'entertaining' stories be they on stage or screen but this is highly watchable and can support multiple viewings.

"The only time I'm happy is when I'm with a guy," says Suzanne, (Sandrine Bonnaire) a promiscuous and directionless teenager. Suzanne's parents are splitting up; her brother beats her as a disciplinary gesture in her father's absence; and her mother has control over nothing. Suzanne hangs out with her friends; sleeps with anyone she is attracted to (except the boy that loves her); and returns home for knock down, drag out fights with her older brother and mother. The last 30 minutes of the film skips quickly into Suzanne's life after marriage and jumps yet again to her life after divorce. The only person Suzanne loves is her father; perhaps because he is the only person who understands and unconditionally loves her. Fine direction from Maurice Pialat who also plays Suzanne's father. Excellent acting from most of the cast saves a somewhat meandering and overwrought script.