Diabolo menthe (1977) - film review

Anne and Frédérique are two sisters, the offspring of separated Jewish parents.  They live with their mother and spend their holidays with their father.  In the autumn of 1963, the sisters return to their discipline obsessed highschool in Paris.  Anne is aged 13, Frédérique is 15.  Both are experiencing the pangs of adolescence.  Whilst her old sister is starting to have relationships with boys, Anne is struggling to make sense of what is happening around her.

Diane Kurys won instant acclaim for this, her first film, when it was released in 1977.  A sensitive and closely observed portrait of teenage girls coming to terms with the pains and pleasures of nascent womanhood, the film has a mesmerising charm and refreshing honesty which makes it compelling viewing and emotionally rewarding.  Coming of age dramas usually involve teenage boys so it is a pleasant change to see a film that deals exclusively with the female sex, and without the off-putting vulgarity that stains most treatments of the subject.  The warm cinematography evokes a sense of nostalgia and adds a poetic dimension, without taking away the striking realism of the piece.  An extraordinarily mature performance by the young Eléonore Klarwein makes her the focus of the film, an enchanting individual who manages to convey the trauma of adolescence with uncanny insight.  The film was a commercial success and earned its director the coveted Prix Louis-Delluc in 1977.

© James Travers 2004

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