Je m'appelle Elisabeth (2006)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Améris

Film Review

Films about childhood are usually hit and miss affairs, their success depending on how effectively they can engage our emotions and evoke memories of our own childhood experiences.  Jean-Pierre Améris's Je m'appelle Elisabeth is a definitely miss, although it does have a certain poetic charm which at least partly redeems its faults.

Despite some obvious talent in the acting and cinematography departments, the film has very little emotional power and, overall, it just fails to make any real impact.  The detached and somewhat stilted literary approach shown in both the scripting and direction undermines the film's realism and introduces a pretty indigestible element of superficiality which, at times, suggests self-parody.

The grotesque characterisation is the script's biggest weakness.  There's hardly a single character in this film that convinces, even though the performances are generally pretty good.  What really offends are the unintended clichés and some hopelessly tacky dialogue.  It's hard to watch the final scene without cringing or laughing at the production team's attempts to evoke real heart-felt poignancy, with all the skill and subtlety of an inept one-armed DIY enthusiast plastering a ceiling for the first time, with a garden spade.

Film Synopsis

Elisabeth, known to all as Betty, is a sweet-natured ten-year-old girl who lives in a large old house with her parents Régis and Mado.  With her elder sister Agnès away at boarding school and her parents looking as if they are about to separate, Betty feels increasingly alone and vulnerable, in spite of the presence of her watchful governess Rose.  Adjacent to Betty's house is a psychiatric hospital which is run by her father, a place for which the girl has nurtured both a fear and a fascination.

One day, one of the inmates of the hospital, a troubled adolescent named Yvon, climbs over the wall separating the two buildings and appears in Betty's garden.  The little girl instantly takes pity on the older boy and offers him shelter in the bike shed.  Yvon's condition makes it hard for him to put into words his feelings but within a short time a close bond of friendship has developed between him and his young protector.  For the first time in his life, Yvon knows what it is to be loved...