Victor... pendant qu'il est trop tard

The movie catches the viewer from the first second: what the heck is going on here? This isn't a movie for those who like movies which explain just everything to the viewer: with this movie many scenes will make you wonder again: what's the meaning of this? It keeps the viewer focused during the entire movie. Some parts are filmed very romantically as only the French can. Sometimes one realizes some scenes aren't really credible, but do they need to be? They don't hurt the movie, they actually make the movie to this wonderful piece of French art. I watched this movie with a 13 year old boy, who couldn't take away his attention from this movie. It was all too strange and too intriguing.

The first film of Sandrine Veysset, "Y aura-t-il de la neige à Noël ?", was all sun and summer. With the second one, she plunges us into a winter world, all black and red. Black as the night, during which most of the scene were shot. Red as Victor's coat, lost kid in a fun fair. Let alone the script which is not very credible (the kid is helped by a good-hearted young prostitute), the film presents good scenes (the birth of the relation between the two main characters) opposed to scenes I found too mannered, especially in the first part (face on a black background, 'zoom' on the mary-go-round). Finally, Sandrine Veysset proves us she is very good at building universes; even if this one is not as convincing as the precedent

"Victor... pendant qu'il est trop tard" isn't exactly a title that gives away very much about the subject of this movie. I think you could best translate it like "Victor... while it's already too late". I don't know, but personally that didn't exactly remind me of child abuse or neglect and yet that's the hard subject this movie talks about.

Victor is a young kid (8 or 9 years old) that has run away from home after being neglected by his parents. Not knowing where to go, he ends up at a carnival where he meets Mick, a young man who runs one of the rides. Late at night Mick takes Victor with him and brings him to Triche, a young prostitute who is his girlfriend when he's in town with the carnival. Between Triche and Victor a warm and loving relationship starts and Victor finally finds a place he can call home. In return he gives Triche the strength to finally decide what she wants to do with her life. In the meantime Victor meets Robert, a kid who lives downstairs and who becomes Victor's best friend. Everything seems to be perfect until Triche gets in trouble with Mira, another prostitute to who she owes money.

If you are able to see past the fact that this entire story isn't really probable to happen, than you'll have to admit that this is actually a nice and heartwarming movie. And what's even more important: it is able to keep your attention from the beginning to the end thanks to the good acting by all main actors. Especially Jérémy Chaix as Victor and Lydia Andrei as Triche were very good. All in all this is a movie that is certainly worth a watch and especially the people who like the French cinema should give this one a try. I give it a 7/10.