Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Arthur Laurents, based upon the novel by Francoise Sagan
Screenplay by Arthur Laurents
Directed by Otto Preminger
Starring Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Jean Seberg, Mylene Demongeot, Geoffrey Horne

Released by: Columbia TriStar
Region: 1
Rating: NR
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: A cinch for all fans of foreign, angsty film.

Cecile (Seberg) is the seventeen-year-old spoiled daughter of wealthy French playboy Raymond (Niven). Cecile and Raymond live a wonderful, wild life on the Riviera, doing pretty much whatever they want. Along comes Anne (Kerr), Cecile's godmother and friend of Cecile's deceased mother. Anne wants Cecile to start studying and cease her steamy summer romance with handsome young Philippe (Horne). Afraid Anne is about to ruin her carefree, irresponsible life, Cecile determines to take matters into her own hands, but her "prank" goes horribly wrong, and someone ends up dead.

One of the most interesting things about the film is the way that none of the characters are perfect; they are instead all flawed in their own ways--even Anne, the ostensible voice of morality and reason. On the other hand, this can get old for viewers who want to like the characters they're being asked to deal with for two hours.

The filming of the movie is rather interesting; most of the film is told in flashback, and the happy, debauched days of the Riviera are shot in color, while the tragic, more adult "present" life of Cecile is shot in black and white. Such elements as smoke and light are used masterfully to represent various themes and moral elements, underscoring the danger of sin in Paradise. The film ends up being almost too hip and sleek for its own good, not unlike the Paris of Cecile's "tristesse"-filled life.

The film, however, may be a bit heavy for some viewers. The hints at father-daughter incest might be enough to torment some viewers, while others will find the idea of Cecile as an innocent at any point in the film laughable at best. The overweening self-aware melodrama will also alienate some viewers who like their drama to come from a lighter hand. The direction and production values take stylized up to eleven, which can be a bad thing.

The DVD has no features, which is a shame. It would have bee nice if the producers had been able to negotiate for a PDF file of Sagan's original novel, or perhaps an interview or commentary with surviving cast and crew, like scriptwriter Laurents or even Ms. Kerr herself.

In short, Bonjour Tristesse will appeal to anyone who likes the emotionally dense and depressing French films of earlier decades or a fan of the original novel. Fans of such movies as An Awfully Big Adventure, Malena, and The Man Who Cried, anything by Douglas Sirk, or books like Catcher in the Rye will probably find this a sure bet.