L'enfance de l'art

Girod loves the unconventional figures:in "le trio infernal" he made delicate Romy Schneider an awful criminal.In "la banquière" he made the same actress a bisexual Robin Hood of the finance. And he knows his classics too;not only his movie is an update of sorts of "Entrée Des artistes ",by Marc Allégret , but the final will fatallly remind you of Duvivier's masterful "La Fin Du Jour" ;if it were not enough,there are also hints at Vincente Minelli 's "the bad and the beautiful" ,and a short extract from the latter ,the scene in which Kirk Douglas throws Lana Turner into the pool ...

"L'Enfance De L'Art "means "a child's play" in French ;but it takes another meaning in the movie;like Marc Allégret before him,he wanted to depict the budding comedians learning their art in the Paris Conservatoire :many scenes are rehearsals (notably Racine's Berenice),some of which (with made up thespians )could (and should ) have been cut .

The problem with this movie is that the director cannot make up his mind: Simon and Marie' s tale is also looking towards "a star is born" for good measure; Marie 's star is on the rise whilst her boyfriend 's is slowly but inexorably leading him to despair.A drama?

But the best moments are the funny ones: Simon panning the ludicrous screenplay of Marie's film debut ;or the students laughing at the Cesar (French AA) ceremony ;or Simon and his camel ,as an extra on the set of an exotic soap opera;Simon making a mess of his "Berenice " lines ....Hints at aids and gays are not that much funny,though.So,a comedy?

All that concerns Marie's first film is worthy of a Harlequin romance ; and her director (a smug Dussolier) has got a lot of nerve to dedicate his movie to her dearest wife Regine!

When it was released ,the movie got unanimous thumbs down; thirty years on, it has not improved with time.