Un amour de jeunesse

One of the first things you notice in Mia Love-Hansen's film, 'Goodbye First Love', is that the supposedly fifteen year old protagonist looks much older; it turns out, there's a reason for this, which is that the drama is going to follow her over several years, so the age of the actress was necessarily a compromise. In fact, the film is conceptually not dissimilar (though heterosexual, and less generally ambitious) from 'Blue is the Warmest Colour': a sensitive and well-drawn story about a talented, attractive young woman whose life is overshadowed by the memory of an intense early relationship. As in real life, when someone is pointlessly in love with someone who does not desire them, you partly want to scream "get over it!", especially when they have obvious advantages they could be exploiting; but humans aren't that simple, although the ending is a touch underwhelming, the story is nicely observed. And if you generally like emotional films about beautiful young Parisiennes, you'll like this one too.

There are times when I long for a great new film from France. Gone it seems are the days of Goretta, Chabrol, Truffaut, Malle and Bresson. Sometimes Techine rises to it, but only just. I was reminded a few days ago of what we are missing when I caught up with Mia Hansen-Love's "Goodbye First Love", a film that conveys the ecstasy and pangs of adolescent passion with a delicacy that the French so often manage to achieve with such effortless ease. In short, this could not have come from any other country. I watched the first third which follows the intense relationship of eighteen year old Sullivan and the younger Camille with something of the excitement of rediscovery. Hansen-Love's direction has a fluency and pace that perfectly match the breakneck quality of an affair teetering on the edge of uncertain fulfilment. When Sullivan departs with his mates on a South American backpacking trip Camille is distraught. Her slow recovery and recognition of a different type of love in her relationship with her mature architecture teacher, Lorenz, form the central part of the film. Unfortunately with the absence of a frenetic passion something of the vitality of the first third is lessened and the film becomes an altogether more mundane affair that even Sullivan's return several months later cannot quite rescue from the occasional yawn. What I imagined from the beginning might prove to be a re-run into "La Dentelliere" country ends up as something far less substantial in quality. Today's French cinema, although often still quite distinctive in style, sadly lacks a director of the calibre of those men from the past.

one of the best romance movie I've ever seen. it shows a story of an ordinary girl in Paris that her first love had some effect on her. Cammile believes in her love and always says she can't live without love. she's just a 15-year-old girl when finds her love and wants to keep it forever. but, the boy left him and pursue his happiness without her. throughout the movie, we don't hear much dialogs. but the different scenes talk to us about the life of the main character. Cammile is not kinda girl who mingle with different people or be talkative. you can just find out her feelings from her eyes. this movie is good for whom wants to see the real life of people. you cannot expect happen something thrilling or extraordinary from this movie. it just shows us the truth of life. someone may dislike the movie because of the slow pace of the movie. however, this is the feature of this kinda films. the slow pace lets you think about the feelings of the main character at the mean time. it ends in the best way that you can't anticipate it before. everything was natural and I really enjoyed it.

Mia Hansen-Love comes from a philosophical background, and in my opinion is too clear eyed to indulge in the softer edges of so-called ' first love. ' I think the English translation of the film does it an injustice and ' Un Amour de Jeunesse ' should have remained. ' Goodbye First Love ' borders on a weepy prospect and this cinematic near masterpiece is anything but that. I have seen the film three times and its quiet intensity is overwhelming. The director is looking at her characters and trying, as every thinker does to see where the balances and imbalance of passionate young relationships are. The ' story ' is deceptively simple; Lola Creton plays a teenage girl who believes she has found her lifetime partner, and her passion is idealistic and her cry of ' Romeo ' as her lover enters through her window shows how much she projects on him of being the Shakespearean hero who would give up his life for her. Sebastian Urzendowsky plays her ' Romeo ' but has no intention of giving up anything for her. He loves her in his own romantic way as young men can but it is a romance that hurts him with its demands. There is a brief scene of him lying on a bed face clearly grief stricken at the feelings he is enduring towards her. He knows that despite his passion for her they are both suffering because of it. End of spoilers. Both young actors are good in their roles but somehow I found their names, Camille and Sullivan as too contrived and in their way too literary and this niggled. Visually the film is superb adding beauty to the visual beauty of the two lovers. Fortunately a Danish man comes into the film, and his older time worn face put a harder edge on this young perfection, and without saying why so as not to spoil the impact of his presence he balances a lot out and leads towards what we all call the reality of life. Love showed her intelligence and clear sightedness in not making him an outer ideal. I will watch this film again because it shows how deeply romantic love can scar, and hints that once we have known it we never forget. And that it can sour the rest of our lives. That is my take on this film and others will have less serious feelings about what they have just seen. In short Mia Hansen-Love is one of the finest directors France has, and long will she continue to make cinema that is against the grain of a lot of rubbish that has become a world wide necessity.

Despite the nice cinematography, lots about this irritated me. Not least the character of the first boyfriend, who came across as a real self-centred arsehole whom she should have been well rid of (as accurately and regularly stated by both her parents). For a lot of the time, she also had a petulant expression which made it additionally hard to sympathise.

However, as well as the characterisation, there were some puzzling lurches in the story (maybe I'd just tuned out?) and, regular use of scenes that just stopped before they'd really ended.... which was a bit frustrating.

Not recommended, unless you're in the market for a "typically French" film with a feel-bad vibe...