[email protected] I just watched 'Moi, Cesar, 10ans 1/2, 1m 39. Elle magazine (French edition) touts it as "The 400 Blows for the Noughties". It really isn't fair to make such a comparison, as for many, that would make this new film fail to deliver, when it is a great, powerful, film in its own right. Yes, both films set out to tell the truth of childhood in their time, but where The 400 Hundred Blows tells you about what could happen and does happen to one child, Moi, Cesar depicts a broader range of the variables of childhood, and is less claustrophobic for doing so. It also has lighter moments that make you remember your own childhood with a wry grin. The central trio of actors are first rate, and Jules Sitruk captures perfectly the awkwardness of growing up the fat kid in school.

writers_reign Richard Berry is something of a throwback to the kind of all-round writer-director-actor that used to be the norm, flitting between drama, comedy, rom-com at will, a Gallic Michael Curtiz if you will. This delightful bildungsroman gives no hint of 22 Bullets, also written and directed by Berry, for example. Jules Sitruk appears to be graduating successfully from juvenile roles and is still working at 23. I for one thoroughly enjoyed his performances in Monsieur Batignole (the work of another fine writer-director-actor Gerard Jugnot) and especially Vipere au poing with an unforgettable Catherine Frot as the mother from hell. I, Cesar, as it has been anglicized is a total delight and shows that Berry - sixty-three years old when he shot this - is completely in touch and in tune with the world of childhood and adept at off-the-wall casting; Jean-Paul Rouve, for example, who played the despicable critic in Monsieur Batignole, turns in a great wacky performance as the gym teacher while Charlie Boorman and his sister also weigh in with solid cameos to say nothing of Anna Karina, who grabs the role of the kind of whack-job that used to go to Carloyn Jones and Shirley MacLaine, with both hands and sinks her teeth in, possibly relishing the chance to get as far away as possible from the merde that Godard inflicted on her. All in all this is a rewarding evening in the salles and stands repeated viewings on DVD.

rgsmlt This movie's a crack. Obviously, Richard Berry is a poor actor. We discover with this movie, quite logically, that he is a poor author too. Well, actually, he is not an author at all. This 'Amelie Poulain' lookalike product is very boring, unimaginative, full of clichés on childhood (and music ad hoc), and the adults around the main character are just clowns. No direction, no action, just the narrative of this Cesar, very thought actually for an immature adult audience. This is very sad to see how french cinema is getting worst and worst, financing such indigent projects when many young authors are starving. Thank you TF1, Canal + and so on.

film_ophile I have just seen this film as part of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts French Film Festival. The last film that I saw as part of the festival, Red Lights, was resented by me for being that worst of things, a thriller with an implausible plot, full of holes, and not worth seeing. "Moi, cesar", however, has thoroughly healed those wounds!This is a delightful, entertaining,fun ride through the world of a disaffected 10 year old Parisian boy whose sole passions are for pastries and a lovely girl classmate. In tone, cinematography and pacing, this film feels a lot like Amelie, and I really enjoyed all the pleasurable laughs it provided. I bought the whole story; the screenplay is very well written and all the actors do an excellent job. The film kicks up a notch when Cesar and his girl and his best friend all hatch a clever ruse, and manage to get themselves to London to help the best friend find his birth father. Just when they need help the most, an older punk fairy godmother, Gloria( in a nod to Tina Turner and Gina Rowlands) appears and things improve. Al is pulled together in a great fun finale. An easy 9 out of 10. Enjoy!