The recomposed family has often been treated in the French cinema ,mainly in the last twenty years ,but generally on a minor mode, not to say comedies ,the likes of " Genial ,Mes Parents Divorcent' (=great! my parents are divorcing!(sic))
"Une Enfance " is a harsh brutal cruel effort ;and the viewer feels happy when ,at least ,in the very last picture ,a smile lightens the young hero 's face.It is not really the " and he lived happily ever after" ending but some sunlight does break through for a while.
The mom's new partner is a brute,a selfish macho who brings home a bunch of revelers ,a home children cannot find their place ,let alone ,study (the boy tries,but quickly closes his book).
Not only they are outcasts in their own family ,but also at school (the teacher says " your son has no friends ") and everywhere: it will take the whole movie to get him into the tennis court ;the first time he has met a player,he's told it's a private place .Although he 's invited for a girl's birthday party ,our little hero feels he's not like the other ones : this is ,with the last sequence,the only truce in the family feuds with the "stepfather" .When he receives his friend's postcard ,from Italy ,where she visited museums (even when they are not at school, children from educated families get all the chances to succeed in their studies).And involuntary adding insult to injury ,the girl tells the unfortunate boy she is to continue her studies at the Saint Eustache secondary school "for her parents find the public one a place where the wrong people go" .
The positive characters (the grandma,the teacher) ,in spite of their willingness,are helpless ,one individual fighting against the society and the authorities cannot hope to win ;anyway,do they really try to fight or do they know their fight is lost in advance?
Both brats appear more mature than their elders: we see them set the table,whereas the grown ups are drinking ,smoking,and swearing .The boy even tries to protect her mom against his hateful "stepfather's violence " ,a man who's nothing but a grown -up kid who purchases stuff in the supermarket for more than 800 euros.(where does the money come from?probably from drug trafficking)
A sharp contrast between the green nature where the young hero finds solace and takes care of a kitten and the smoky rooms of what was once a home.
The most terrifying scene shows the mother accusing her little one of spoiling,destroying her life.This is the kind of words a child will never be able to forget.
Minor quibble: why do they always use English songs in FRENCH movies?The bland little folk songs do not bring anything to the brats' plight.The old "Il Etait Une Fois' 1972 hit "Rien Qu'Un Ciel" is much better applied on the movie :it's not a great tune,by a long shot,but some of its words ("snuggled up to you") make us think of the boy and his kitten ,who plays the part of a teddy bear for him.
As I wrote,it's a detail.At the time when the "feel-good" movies run rampant on the French scene,we can be thankful to the director for showing the other side of the picture.
"Une Enfance " is a harsh brutal cruel effort ;and the viewer feels happy when ,at least ,in the very last picture ,a smile lightens the young hero 's face.It is not really the " and he lived happily ever after" ending but some sunlight does break through for a while.
The mom's new partner is a brute,a selfish macho who brings home a bunch of revelers ,a home children cannot find their place ,let alone ,study (the boy tries,but quickly closes his book).
Not only they are outcasts in their own family ,but also at school (the teacher says " your son has no friends ") and everywhere: it will take the whole movie to get him into the tennis court ;the first time he has met a player,he's told it's a private place .Although he 's invited for a girl's birthday party ,our little hero feels he's not like the other ones : this is ,with the last sequence,the only truce in the family feuds with the "stepfather" .When he receives his friend's postcard ,from Italy ,where she visited museums (even when they are not at school, children from educated families get all the chances to succeed in their studies).And involuntary adding insult to injury ,the girl tells the unfortunate boy she is to continue her studies at the Saint Eustache secondary school "for her parents find the public one a place where the wrong people go" .
The positive characters (the grandma,the teacher) ,in spite of their willingness,are helpless ,one individual fighting against the society and the authorities cannot hope to win ;anyway,do they really try to fight or do they know their fight is lost in advance?
Both brats appear more mature than their elders: we see them set the table,whereas the grown ups are drinking ,smoking,and swearing .The boy even tries to protect her mom against his hateful "stepfather's violence " ,a man who's nothing but a grown -up kid who purchases stuff in the supermarket for more than 800 euros.(where does the money come from?probably from drug trafficking)
A sharp contrast between the green nature where the young hero finds solace and takes care of a kitten and the smoky rooms of what was once a home.
The most terrifying scene shows the mother accusing her little one of spoiling,destroying her life.This is the kind of words a child will never be able to forget.
Minor quibble: why do they always use English songs in FRENCH movies?The bland little folk songs do not bring anything to the brats' plight.The old "Il Etait Une Fois' 1972 hit "Rien Qu'Un Ciel" is much better applied on the movie :it's not a great tune,by a long shot,but some of its words ("snuggled up to you") make us think of the boy and his kitten ,who plays the part of a teddy bear for him.
As I wrote,it's a detail.At the time when the "feel-good" movies run rampant on the French scene,we can be thankful to the director for showing the other side of the picture.