La fille au bracelet

That's a question some of us parents are sometimes asked by our children. Children demand for privacy and we accept. But privacy turns into secrecy and our acceptance turns into ignorance at times bordering indifference. One horrible day, your world comes crashing down when you discover that your child isn't exactly what he/she you thought he/she was. Now, what would you choose to do? Still standby or abandon that child? This movie poses that question to you. Whatever you choose to do, I feel, you should be absolved of any blame. Because it is one hell of a question. As a father of a rebellious daughter, I shuddered when the movie was over. My world hasn't yet come down crashing. But that's something I dread everyday. Secretly. This movie made me face my fear. A very well made movie. Kudos to the entire team.

I usually find with French courtroom dramas a refreshing lack of formality and deference. That's not to say that it's a free for all, but the ebbing and flowing of testimony and barrister intervention seems to me far more likely to facilitate a more accurate verdict. "Lise" (Melissa Guers) has been arraigned on a charge of the murder of her best friend "Flora". She was found stabbed multiple times in a bed they had shared the night before. The prosecutor (Anaïs Demoustier) is alleging that a leaked, intimate, video of "Lise" and their friend "Nathan" (Mikaël Halimi) was the source of the violence but she denies that. As the investigation proceeds, we begin to realise that nothing is simple here. "Lise" turns out to be a sexually active girl and the trial sort of shifts from an evaluation of her guilt and innocence into one of youth, profligacy, morals and behaviour. At that, it's quite provocative and the young Guers delivers well. She portrays the character convincingly, lacking in confidence and emanating quite a genuine sense of bemused bewilderment coupled with a remarkable degree of self-control. It's quite clear that as her parents learn a little more of their daughter's peccadilloes that they, too, have demons to face - and at times you do wonder if her dad "Bruno" (Roschdy Zem) is entirely sure of her innocence. Annie Mercier is also quite effective as the girl's legal counsel presenting a far less confrontational style then the prosecutor and for the bulk of this ninety minutes, we have quite a decent drama that does ask you not just whom you believe, but also - what were you like at that age. The trial itself seems a little weak, but as a vehicle for quite a characterful performance from Guers it's worth watching.

Firstly contrary to another review, there was *no* goof in presenting photos of the murder scene and the cuts sustained by the victim. Two separate photos were shown to the court: the first was of the murder scene with blood on the sheets and spatter on the wall: the second was what looked like a post-mortem photo showing the position of the cuts. The latter was never presented as having been taken at the scene.

On my impressions of the film, the whole court scene felt very realistic and yet shocking at the same time. How was it that the prosecution was able to inject so much surmise, inuendo and downright personal opinions without being challenged and such statements being struck from the record? Of course this is fiction, but I sincerely hope it does not represent how court cases are conducted in France!

If I speak strongly it's because the acting throughout was excellent, very naturalistic, from Lise through to her family and her lawyer. Not having seen the original film but read that in it the prosecution relies heavily on besmirching the character of the accused, that same tone was very much reflected in this film. I was gripped throughout.

Near to the start, the victim's mother describes huge amounts of blood. With only the face being spared a savage attack. But during the trial, the scene-of-crime photos show no sign of any blood at all; just a few neat wounds. This dichotomy is so extreme that this viewer was entirely distracted from watching the remainder of the movie with any interest. What did it mean? Was it some sort of 'high art' concept? Was it the start of some sort of science fictional adventure? Do the French police wash bodies, launder bed-clothes and wash walls before taking a literally sanitized picture? What does it mean?

"La Fille au Bracelet" narrates the final phases of a legal process against Lise Bataille, a young teenager accused of murdering her best friend. The director told the story almost like a documentary, and as a person that watched some courtroom recordings of famous cases, I have to say that the movie was realistic and immersed me in the plot. It also explores the relationship between the girl and her parents that need to go through this difficult and long procedure that will consume them, creating tensions between different family members. The psychology of the main character is very well developed, and she was very consistent for the whole length.

I personally think that there were a few scenes that were very boring and were dragged longer than necessary. Even though I was genuinely curious to see how it ended, I think that Stéphane Demoustier and the cast could have done a better job in order to create more tension and keep the audience more engaged. Probably this has to do with the chosen narration style, which wants to emulate as much as possible the reality, however the acting could have been a bit more dramatic and expressive in my humble opinion. If you like European cinema you should definitely give this a shot. It is overall a solid drama with good characters and nice acting.