Les aiguilles rouges

A group of French boy scouts go on a hike in the Alps, in 1960. They go without adult monitors, guided by an older boy who is supposed to prove his leadership skills. However, what was supposed to be an easy hike goes wrong. The boys get lost, and their inexperience and several bad decisions put their lives at risk.

It's a simple, unpretentious movie. Nothing too fancy here, but it's pleasant enough for viewers to enjoy the 90 minutes it lasts. The views of the Mont Blanc massif are really beautiful. I thought the rivalries and disagreements between the boys, as well as the moments of comradeship, were well done.

France 1960:Charles De Gaulle had been ruling the country for two years (see the sequence in the cinema);the "Nouveau Franc " had just happened(but they 'd still got the good old "Cent Sous " coins which the brats put on the tracks before the train comes ;Brigitte Bardot continued to fascinate the crowds (extract from "Et Dieu Créa La Femme":it was however a NC-18 film But the youngsters managed);and " Les 400 Coups" is next week's movie.

There's a darker side to 1960:the Algeria war was not yet over (it would take two more years) and a newspaper reads " eight soldiers were killed in an ambush "1960,it's mostly that.

"Les Aiguilles Rouges" is some kind of updated "war of the buttons ";eight teenagers go for a hike .Against all odds,in those magnificent mountain landscapes ,it's not your idea of fun:they do not get on very well,some of them have already experimented tragedy (death of a father,a brother drafted in a dirty war...)Like in "La Guerre Des Boutons,and although the screenplays are completely different,these teenagers don't seem to trust the grown ups anymore :the best scene is the young boy reading a letter from his conscript brother and crying "if I told you what they forced him to do!".And it seems that this misunderstanding extends to the teenagers ' relationships.

The adults return in the last fifteen minutes ,cameos for Bernadette Laffont (nurse) ,Rufus (gendarme) ,Patrick Bouchitey and Richard Berry (fathers).

It was not a big success in France ;I would not be surprised if it became a sleeper.

Why the low rating, the other "reviewer" asks? Because idiots come on the IMDb and vote for films they haven't seen, that's why. I'd never heard of this film, but found the DVD and it looked intriguing, so I took a chance. It's a beautifully shot film, with excellent performances from its young cast - it's funny, and ultimately touching, and the photography is breathtaking - the score by Frederic Talgorn is gorgeous, too. Not a great film, but a really good one - and SHORT! Surprising that this never made it to the United States - I should think it would have done well. I recommend it if you can find the DVD - it's French, but has English subtitles, and it includes a second disc of extras.