Ava

Teenage summer love - story told hundreds times and still done in a very fresh way.

Tender and heartwarming movie with great camera shoots and awesome soundtrack.

AVA is set on an idyllic seaside town during a typical French summer holiday were the 13-year-old title hero learns that her sight is deteriorating, (brilliant performance from Noee Abita who was 18 at the time for obvious reasons). This dilemma forces Ava to create her own world, where along the way she befriends a young Gypsy boy and his dog. They form a pact and hit the road as they make a run from the law and life itself. The young director, Lea Mysius, mixes it up with neorealism, a bit of pop culture, and some surreal moments, capturing perfectly the mindset of a teenager going through puberty during her pending ordeal.

I'm American, but I like foreign movies. I especially like French movies. I most especially like French coming-of-age movies; they tend to be more authentic and honest than any others. But this one let me down, for a number of reasons.

First, the plot line of the girl slowly going blind went nowhere, and did not need to be there to justify the actions of the title character. A girl of that age, going through the changes of young adulthood, with all its mixed emotions, could easily have gone through the same experiences without that plot element. It was unnecessary.

There was some awkward editing in the film, too. It was like the filmmakers didn't know how to, or couldn't, end some scenes, so they just cut away from them. Among such moments was the scene by the raging river. It was obvious the scene couldn't be finished, so they just cut away from it. Like I said, awkward.

The worse part, though, was the lead actress. I'm not attacking her acting ability, but she just absolutely did not look like a 13 year-old. She didn't have the facial features, body, or mannerisms of a girl of that age. If they had made her, say, 16 instead of 13, she would have been more believable. And she could still have gone through the same emotions and done the same things. Honestly, that aspect, where the actress was so obviously older than the character she played, took me out of the film. Dig up an older French film named "Beau Pere" and see what I mean; there, the actress playing a 14 year-old looks and acts like, well, a 14 year old.

All in all, as French coming-of-age movies go, this was not one of the better ones.

I found it bold in many ways. I'm not sure of having already seen something like this. Violence boldness, artistic boldness, hippie boldness, yes, but every day boldness ? boldness to accept one's weakness ? Boldness to accept my weakness ? I found it surprising in many ways but it goes with it. It's funny, crazy, sexy, cool, true. I do not want to spoil any surprises so I won't say much more. I don't know if it's a great movie, but for me it is a memorable movie as I do not often see.

For a debut feature, this is nicely done, with some pleasantly-surprising turns that help avoid the cliches of the coming-of-age-rebellion trope.

As someone else has said, she doesn't really need to be 13 for the plot to work. Something like 16 would have been fine, and the fact that Noee was older than 13 at the time of filming would not have been so obvious. However, IMHO, she is excellent in this - even better than in Slalom, which I also saw recently.

Despite the underlying tragedy of her situation (horrifying disease prognosis, useless mother...), there are some nice touches of humour (loved the dog on the moped) and sweetness from the supporting characters (such as the bride).

Recommended.