Un, deux, trois, soleil

This is a one of the most underrated movies of all time. It's worth viewing if only for the excellent performance of Marcello Mastroianni. It tells the story of Victorine, a girl living in a suburb of a big city. The movie has a surreal undertone and does not explain everything so the viewer can use their own imagination to fill in the gaps. A special mention for the suberb music by Khaled.

I have only seen 3 Bertrand Blier movies, but this one is easily my favorite of the 3. BUFFET FROID, starring Gerard Depardieu, was the first I saw -- and the fact that it was basically plot less and full of absurdist humor made it instantly a favored flick. I more recently saw Blier's Oscar-winning GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS but thought it was a little too conventional and strained next to the more flat-out freewheeling BUFFET. About 15 years after that pair of movies comes this one, which marries the sensibilities of the other two perfectly. Like HANDKERCHIEFS, it actually has a story, but like BUFFET, it doesn't bother with real-world logic, good taste, or linear chronology in telling that story. SOLEIL is sort of a movie about coming-of-age in the projects, sort of a movie about sexual psychology, and sort of a cut-and-pasted collage of unusual moments. The magical thing is that the damn thing winds up more moving than it probably would have if it was a straightforward tearjerker about hard living. Of course, Blier can't be credited completely for this, as his actors are wonderful, especially Anouk Grinberg as Victorine, our perpetually childish heroine, and Marcello Mastroianni as her charming perpetually drunk papa. An under-seen gem.

"Un, Deux, Trois, Soleil" is a ten year old French flick recently released on DVD probably to capitalize on the names of Bier or the late Mastroianni. However, the film, a dramady, which tells of the misadventures of a post pubescent school girl growing up in Marseille (played by 30 year old Grinberg) is neither sufficiently engaging nor funny to make it worth all the subtitle reading. Much of the humor is lost in translation and the film's warmth soon grows fallow as the weak slice-of-life plot grows increasingly insipid. Probably not worthwhile for anyone other than French speakers into French films who have seen all the more recent and much better stuff. (C)

I am rarely moved to comment on movies but I think that this little gem has been overlooked. This is a poignant, even beautiful movie about growing up, poverty, life in seedy housing projects and, for me, most importantly loving, giving mixed ethnic communities that nurture and support everyone. It may be a little idealized but the point is well made. Anouk Grinberg is utterly captivating as the gamine adolescent, strong and vulnerable, playing her part with an intelligence that is rare and to be cherished. The cast, including the children, play their roles with spirit and are absolutely believable. I did not find the subtitles distracting (knowing a little French helped) and let the performances speak for themselves. A remarkable little movie that has spirit, is socially relevant, even today, and brilliantly filmed. I am so glad I didn't listen to the overly negative review that was prominent on IMDb and would urge everyone with a grain of compassion to watch this movie and be moved and uplifted.

In a warm town of Marseille, a teenager, clamped among a crazy mother and an alcoholic father, looks desperately for tenderness. On bottom of gloomy suburb, Bertrand Blier delivers, once more, an unclassifiable film and gladly provocative, who can leave you perplexed but not indifferent.