krocheav This 1996 French film is reminiscent of an earlier French film from the 60s; Serge Bourguignon's "Sundays and Cybele", which also featured an astounding performance by a young girl, the remarkable Patricia Gozzi (Rapture '65)Director/Writer Jacques Doillon has achieved the almost impossible with this production, in fact it would seem as if the story was built around the talents of its remarkable young child star; four year old Victoire Thivisol. Very few four year olds could manage the intense work required to bring this story to life. The Director (and or Producer) has wisely gathered a crew of highly specialized technical professionals, who create the incredible illusion the viewer is following the lives of the characters as they unfold. Cinematographer: Caroline Champetier is known for her vivid Documentaries and features (Of Gods and Men '10 ~ Last Days in Jerusalem '11 ~ The Bear '88) Then, to piece the images together seamlessly, they chose Editor/Director: Jacquelne (Fano) Lecompte, known for her collaborations with documentary director Francois Bel. Both Bel and Lecompte won awards for their "Territory of Others" in 1970. When you also add to the above, Camera Operator/Director of Photography: Julien Hirsch (Korkoro '09) they made for a very solid collaborative team - all documentary trained filmmakers of renown.Some reviewers have quite reasonably drawn attention to the use of such a young cast for a highly emotional subject...dealing with the death of a beloved parent (in this case the girls own mother) This child has numerous harrowing scenes, including clawing at the earth of her mother's grave begging for her to "come back"! The method chosen for ending the film is good, but a little jarring...with the appearance of the girls mother! This could be taken as a child's imaginings, but these scenes are filled with very 'real' details - leaving the viewer unsure. Ponette's mother is played by Marie Trintignant, who just a few years later would sadly go to her own grave at only 41. With so many tears of tragedy needed throughout the entire story, it makes one wonder about the methods of prompting required to elicit so much from a four year old?The film makers and distributors must also have been concerned, as the video cover features an entire two page disclaimer - regarding managing the effects on the child star --written by a Psychologist--. Makes you wonder. Composer Philippe Sarde (Tess '79 ~ The Bear '88 ~ The Tenant '76) has written a sensitively expressive music score that's never intrusive. The adult characters in the early stages of the film can seem a little sketchy, with Ponette's father abandoning his grieving daughter by going away for an unexplained reason, leaving her in boarding school or with various relatives. Some of the scenes with her Auntie (and cousin's) do manage to achieve a level of interest and thoughtfulness.A beautiful film for those who like a special kind of story telling or love children. The Tartan VHS release is OK, but appears to be a rare find on DVD.

Stanislas Lefort This film recounts the grieving process of a four-year-old child who has lost her mother, the pain of the loss, of not finding answers, of not finding explanations of the unimaginable. It also shows how the people around the child experience are void. The children as well as the adults all try to offer an explanation. Seen like that, the film could seem awfully sad. But Ponette is also and especially a magnificent reflection on facing death in childhood, on the stages of grief, on all that is unexplainable. On this point, and rightly so, the end of the film should fuel a debate: did this really happen, or was this the product of Ponette's wild imagination? I think that, if we don't ponder this, we pass over one of the major elements of the work.

mshsteach I cannot disagree with Brian enough! You don't need to know French to know that Victoire was giving one of the best heartfelt performances ever given, and just at the mere age of four. Emotion, pain, love, and death is universal. I felt Ponette's pain and remembered just how difficult it was to deal with the loss of a loved one.If a viewer can't handle movies with captions, then maybe he should pick another movie. It's as simple as that. But if that is your qualification and how one judges movies, you're missing out on some very fine movies.

diatom It is astonishing how well this movie captures the interior lives of young children. Viewers are reminded of how literal reality is to them - the abstract ideas that we adults talk about so freely have a very different meaning to children. It is hard for four-year-old Ponette to distinguish reality from fantasy. When she says that she wants to talk to her mom, she really means that she wants to talk to her, in person. We know this is impossible, but Ponette sees possibilities in the false hope given her by her aunt's explanations about Jesus and heaven and talking to God. None of the adults who are taking care of her begin to address her sorrows, fears and hopes adequately. Her father is too self-absorbed, and probably also too sad. The aunt and the woman at her school can explain things only in religious terms. I found myself longing for some grown-up to sit down with Ponette and listen to her, take her seriously. The children with whom she interacts offer a variety of solutions to her problem, but they also ultimately do not help. Towards the end of the film, Ponette finally escapes from the confines of her friends, her school, her teachers and her parent. She confronts her missing mother as directly as she can - she goes to her grave, freshly dug in the hillside. It is only when Ponette can see for herself that there is no longer any mommy, that she is silent, sealed away in the earth, that she can begin the long painful process of adjusting to her loss.I think that's why she is "allowed" finally to speak with her - she works out the things she needs to hear from her mother, and makes them happen as she wishes. At last, she achieves a bit of relief from her struggle to understand what happened. For the viewer, by the time Ponette flees to the cemetery, we too have experienced the profound silence of the dead, and have revisited all the bargaining, the longing, and the fantasies that even grown-ups entertain when someone they love dies. I highly recommend this movie.