Un poison violent (2010)
Directed by Katell Quillévéré

Film Review

Coming-of-age dramas are two-a-penny these days but, once in a while, the genre throws up something special, a quirky variation on a familiar theme which persuades us we have not yet had the last word on matters relating to teenage growing pains.  For her debut film, 30-year-old Katell Quillevere draws on her own experiences to paint a portrait of adolescent awakening in a rural French setting that is both strikingly naturalistic and pointedly lyrical.  By virtue of its subject matter, narrative simplicity and almost brutal directness, it evokes some of the great films by Robert Bresson and Maurice Pialat, and yet it also has a very noticeable feminine voice, for this is clearly a woman's perspective on a girl's painful transition to womanhood.  The film was enthusiastically received at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010 and was awarded the Jean Vigo prize, a very auspicious debut for a promising young filmmaker.

The hormone-induced emotional traumas experienced by the central character (played by Clara Augarde in a compelling and beautifully understated performance) are accentuated by the chaos that surrounds her, and also by her strict Catholic upbringing.  Her parents have separated, her mother is in a state of disarray, and her grandfather (a superb Michel Galabru), her closest confidant, is having to face up to the greatest crisis of all: death.  Then she becomes aware of boys (or rather one particular boy, a cute little Don Juan who looks as if he should be hosting a daytime TV gameshow), and her whole world is turned inside out.  Her dilemma is not only a moral one but an intensely spiritual one - by embarking on a romantic relationship does she betray her devotion to God and risk being damned?  Which will prove stronger, desire or faith?

The film's title (lifted from Un poison violent, c'est ça l'amour, a song by Serge Gainsbourg) is aptly chosen.  Love is indeed a poison, a potent metaphorical hemlock which extinguishes something in the soul and leaves its victim eternally stricken with a lingering desolation.  One of the strengths of Katell Quillevere's film is how sensitively and realistically it explores the adolescent psyche, portraying the teenage protagonists as real people conflicted by real feelings, as opposed to the soulless stereotypes that are seen too often in films and television programmes these days.  The effortless delicacy of Quillevere's mise-en-scène is matched by the maturity and compassion she shows in her screenwriting - a remarkable debut indeed.

Film Synopsis

This is the summer when everything changed for Anna.  On her return from boarding school, she discovers that her father has left home.   Devastated by the breakdown of her marriage, her mother turns to the young village priest for support, whilst Anna is consoled by her bedridden grandfather.  As she prepares for her confirmation, Anna meets Pierre, a solitary and free-spirited teenager.   This summer, Anna was expecting to give herself, body and soul, to God.  Instead, a mere mortal could be the recipient of her devotion...