Petits arrangements avec les morts (1994)
Directed by Pascale Ferran

Film Review

A haunting and highly original study in bereavement, Petits arrangements avec les morts is the first full-length film from director Pascale Ferran, who had previously been noted for her work as a sceenwriter on such films as Arnaud Desplechin's La Sentinelle (1992). Subsequently, Ferran would garner considerable acclaim for her stark and subtle essays in desire Lady Chatterley (2006) and Bird People (2014). Her first film is a somewhat less accomplished work but it still captivates with its unusual treatment of a subject that cinema rarely delves into - François Ozon's Sous le sable (2000) is perhaps the best French film so far on this difficult theme.

The film neatly divides into three parts, which tell the story from the point of view of three different characters.  Of these, the most memorable is the first, which shows how a young boy reacts to the death of a close friend. Thanks to some inventive cinematography and editing, plus a heart-rending performance from child actor Guillaume Charras, this segment vividly conveys the trauma of a child who is forced to confront death for the first time.  After such a brilliant start, the remainder of the film feels something of a let down, even if the calibre of the acting and direction is just as good as in the first part.  One actor who stands out is Charles Berling, appearing in one of his first substantial film roles.  Pascale Ferran's debut film has much to commend it and it was a worthy recipient of the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994.

Film Synopsis

On a beach in Brittany one summer, a nine-year old boy, Jumbo, watches a man build a fantastic sand castle.  When the man leaves, Jumbo offers to look after the castle, but it is demolished when he gets into a fight with some other boys.  He feels as responsible for the destruction of the castle as he was for the death of his friend Patrick, a recent victim of cancer.  His way of coping with Patrick's death was to build a shrine to the dead in a disused bunker, but attempts to indoctrinate another friend, Bruno, into his morbid ceremonies are thwarted by adults.  The man who built the fabulous sandcastle is named Vincent.  He is on holiday with his brother François and two sisters, Zaza and Suzanne.  Memory of a tragic death also haunts these four siblings, since their younger sister Lili died in an accident in childhood.   François has become a specialist in insects and spends most of his time analysing and classifying dead things.  Meanwhile, his older sister Zaza is a nurse, who has given her life to postponing the deaths of others.   After all these years, both Zaza and François are still deeply scarred by Lili's death…