Ich liebe dich - I love you - je t'aime

We were the first family in our neighborhood to have a VCR. The first movie I can remember watching was A Little Romance!! Can you imagine being a 5 year old girl and seeing Europe for the first time through the eyes of these two beautiful teen agers. Seeing true LOVE for the first time in such a genuine, honest story! I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. I LOVE this movie! I have watched it many times in my life, at various ages. I have shared it with friends and family and watched with some odd sort of pride as they too fell in love with the story and its characters. Such a whirlwind story. Never a dull moment. And can I just say that the soundtrack is incredible!!!

I still own our original VHS tape. It came encased in plastic inside a large cardboard, front-opening box. It has traveled with me, moved with me countless times, been watched repeatedly, and probably even cried on. But, like the true love it represents, it has withstood the test of time. However, last Spring, my own sweet, wonderful boyfriend did buy me the DVD, "for when your copy goes to that big VCR in the sky". (what a keeper he is)

I cannot express the depth of emotions this movie triggers in me. And I can't explain how I managed to cling to the belief that love, can indeed be as simple and beautiful as the characters portray. But I can say that it has been my quest "to kiss under the bridge of sighs, at sunset, while the bells toll". It has become a dream to be fulfilled. Summer of 2005, my boyfriend and I will be in Europe. And we WILL visit Venice. And we WILL take that gondola ride. And as the incomparable Sir Laurence Olivier says in the movie " What are legends anyways, but stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.....Something that two people who are in love create together, against impossible odds, CAN hold them together...forever!"

We believe the legend is real!!!!

This overlooked gem simply sparkles. Diane Lane plays a 13-year old American girl living in Paris with her mother and stepfather. She falls in love with Thelonius Bernard, a 13-year old French boy obsessed with American movies. When it is revealed that Lane's family will be moving back to the U.S., the two hatch a plot to flee to Italy to kiss under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, feeling this act will seal their love forever. Assisted by Sir Lawrence Olivier, the two bright teens fulfil their mission.

The great part about this film is that the love between Lane and Bernard is treated sensitively and without sentimentality or condescension. Lane and Bernard are in love and know they are meant for each other. Their intelligence about their love is in sharp contrast to the indifference or foolishness of most of the adult characters in the film who dictate their daily lives. The film's score is truly beautiful, utilizing Handel's Largo as it's main theme. There's a sweet vibe running throughout this film that makes it very special indeed. A great movie for a Sunday afternoon. Highly recommended.

One of the finest movies I have ever seen. Let no one ever again say that intelligent movies can't be deeply moving, spiritual, and just plain fun.

I was utterly stupefied at the seamless way this movie exposes the spiritual landscape. I'm really at a loss to explain this movie in the normal way one speaks of theatrical productions; in terms of components, like writing, direction, acting, etc. This movie was marvelously "of a piece", which is very, very relaxing and refreshing. Analyzing it would feel like dissecting a living thing, which I won't do.

Just one of the gems: This movie makes perfectly plain the essential role of familial love for the full and timely flowering of romantic love. At a time when people are accused of ascribing to movies an inordinate responsibility for social conditions, this movie reminds you why it might be reasonable to do so. It can be fairly well depended upon to stand as a model for father-daughter love, true husbandry under difficult circumstances (a spiritually impoverished mother), and exploring your first love.

And there are lots and lots and lots of other gems in this movie. There's sweet chaos, Sir Laurence Olivier, an excellent balance of English and subtitled native speech, a truly fine and unaffected portrayal of European life, and on and on and on. SEE THIS MOVIE!

This movie is very special to me. I saw it with my first girlfriend. I thought, "Wow, they made a movie about me." This is a truly amazing movie. Sure there are contrivances but really the romantic angle works.

This movie has everything, philosopy, romance, adventure, love, discovery of self love and France. Who could ask for more. It has a wonderful cast. Diane Lane is absolutely wonderful. Sir Laurence Olivier is just fabulous. The rest of cast is a wonderful collection of oddballs and nuts that are done superbly.

There is no overt sex, no violence but the movie manages to do very well without those things. It makes you wonder why they can't make more movies like this anymore. It is a complete movie. Thankfully they did not make a sequel to this one. It stands on its own. The test of a good movie is that after it ends you care and wonder about the characters. This movie really makes you wonder what happened after the movie ends.

Did she write back? Did he find another love? Will they find true love? Very few movies I have seen ever made me wonder what happened after the end.

Smashing romantic comedy-drama about two youngsters in love. A movie-loving French boy and the daughter of Americans working abroad meet and eventually run away from Paris to Venice to seal their love within the bonds of a legend--never suspecting the romantic story they've been told is a tall one, thought up by a wily pickpocket (Laurence Olivier, hammy but not overdoing it) who ends up acting as their guardian. Herky-jerky continuity and a too-heavy police interrogation sequence do not mar otherwise lovely and funny film with a beautiful score by Georges Delerue (which deservedly won an Oscar). Diane Lane, in her debut, is a wise little princess with understanding eyes and a husky, charming voice. *** from ****