Les Années campagne (1992)

Les Années campagne is a French film comedy-drama first released in 1992, directed by Philippe Leriche.  The film stars Charles Aznavour, Benoît Magimel, Sophie Carle, Clémentine Célarié and Françoise Arnoul.  It has also been released under the title: The Country Years.  Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.


Whilst his parents are away travelling on business, Jules, a 15 year-old boy, lives with his grandparents in a beautiful area of French countryside.  Unable to afford their large house, Jules’ grandparents are forced to moved to a smaller property in a nearby town.  For Jules, the move is a painful one, not least because he is teased by the local kids.  It’s not all bad, however.  For one thing, he discovers his first taste of romance…

Les Années campagne is the only film directed by Philippe Leriche, who previously worked as an assistant director on such well-known films as Deux hommes dans la ville (1973) and Emmanuelle (1974).  It’s a very personal film, a familiar coming-of-age drama, whose charms are somewhat marred by a cliché-riddled script and some horribly over-sentimental music.  On the plus side, it is attractively filmed, the exterior shots in the countryside being strongly evocative of a lost childhood, and there’s a nice performance from a young Benoît Magimel.

© James Travers 2006

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