Una piccola storia d'amore

I've never been able to get this out of my head since its first release; it is one of the best films I've ever seen. I just looked at the DVD and was amazed at how many details I still remember from that first viewing 26 years ago. Gunfire-addled IMDb voters are dead wrong; this should be a 9+, but I guess it gets docked two points for having no explosions and only one shooting (with a blank pistol, which probably doesn't count).

The only "modern romances" in the same league are Richard Linklater's "Sunrise/Sunset" films, which I urge all fans of "A Little Romance" to see.

As fine as Diane Lane has been in recent films, I don't believe she's ever been as good as she is here, 13 years old and simultaneously fresh as new snow and polished as silver plate. She absolutely belonged on that TIME magazine cover. It's a miraculous performance which may owe more to director Hill than to Lane herself, but who cares? Just enjoy it...her interview feature on the DVD is excellent, by the way.

With the exception of "Marathon Man" and a couple of British TV plays, you can't find better late-period Olivier. He's simply delightful. If you are really perverse (like me), watch this and then compare with "The Boys from Brazil," a dreadful Olivier movie from the previous year, which should have qualified Sir Larry as the all-time champion "great actor working like hell while thigh-deep in pure crap." Here it's the exact opposite: the consummate old pro, totally relaxed, tossing off another memorable performance because he's in a terrific movie that he doesn't have to try and save. This is how I choose to remember the older Olivier. Another old pro, Broderick Crawford, damn near steals the movie in his too-brief cameos. He has a wonderful moment with Thelonious Bernard that will charm anyone who's dealt with an aging person's fading memory.

Arthur Hill, yet another reliable old guy, puts a nice turn on the #2 step-dad character. Who ever looked better in a business suit? The only truly unbelievable thing in the movie is that such a smart and understanding man would actually marry Sally Kellerman's vapid, starstruck mother character. Heavens, what a bitch. She doesn't deserve Arthur, and the scene in which he ejects equally vapid Potential Next Husband David Dukes from their lives is a classic of real-world, real man macho.

It's a real shame that Thelonious Bernard didn't have a film career, but if you can only star in one movie, this is a pretty damn good one for it. The iconic freeze-frame final shot of him leaping above traffic to wave goodbye is something one never forgets. It's like the alternate universe version of the last shot in "The 400 Blows."

One more thing: thank heavens there was no sequel.

This overlooked gem simply sparkles. Diane Lane plays a 13-year old American girl living in Paris with her mother and stepfather. She falls in love with Thelonius Bernard, a 13-year old French boy obsessed with American movies. When it is revealed that Lane's family will be moving back to the U.S., the two hatch a plot to flee to Italy to kiss under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, feeling this act will seal their love forever. Assisted by Sir Lawrence Olivier, the two bright teens fulfil their mission.

The great part about this film is that the love between Lane and Bernard is treated sensitively and without sentimentality or condescension. Lane and Bernard are in love and know they are meant for each other. Their intelligence about their love is in sharp contrast to the indifference or foolishness of most of the adult characters in the film who dictate their daily lives. The film's score is truly beautiful, utilizing Handel's Largo as it's main theme. There's a sweet vibe running throughout this film that makes it very special indeed. A great movie for a Sunday afternoon. Highly recommended.

The wonder of Laurence Olivier was his flexibility. From Shakespeare to the light & fluffy he was not too proud and that he enjoyed his profession so is shown in all his last works. This film is one of the latter and it may delight you with its humour and insight. A story set in Paris(sigh) of two adolescents from very different backgrounds and their budding romance in this the city of love. Which raises a good question mr director, why go to Venice when you could have done it all here the most romantic place in the world. But I digress. Lauren(Diane Lane) & Daniel(Thelonius Bernard) are the leads. Two youngsters with very high IQ's, they both read Heidegger & Nitsche for kicks, and who are surrounded by incompetent adults led by Daniel's dad, a parisien taxi driver with questionable ethics and Laurens mum Kay( Sally Kellerman playing a snobbish ex-patriot socialite) who balks at the thought of returning to the states-"goddam Houston".There is also a fine supporting cast of David Dukes playing George, a very avant-garde film director(so he says) and to Kay a potential husband number three, and Arthur Hill playing the kindly stepfather Richard. Broderick Crawford also makes a cameo appearance as himself, sadly one of his last. Olivier makes his entrance as the comical old gentleman with a mysterious past who used to live at the Browning's Villa in Venice and who befriends the two youngsters regaling them with a romantic tale of eternal love which can only be sealed with a kiss in a gondola under the bridge of sighs in Venice.Enough said.

Director Hill directs against type here but imbues his story with some wonderful vignettes. When Daniel's friend Londet sneaks them in to watch a blue movie Laurens reaction is a typically adolescent, morbid curiousity followed by revulsion and then a pert clinical summary.As if to say this aint that kind of a movie folks. Interestingly the two teenage leads found the eventual physical contact an embarrasing experience for all and had to be firmly encouraged by the director.There is a hint of their discomfort on screen but only for a moment. Love conquers all(sigh). Oliviers humourous performance transfixes when he almost gags on his croissant when seeing his criminal identikit photo in the newspaper. Hill also finds time to place excerpts from previous movies into his latest film,but aptly so. Albeit all in a foreign language. I also loved the photography and the landscape, I dont remember Italy being this lovely. The performances by all are very affecting although Lane did go on to bigger though not always better things. Bernard with his gallic good looks and despite passable reviews was never heard from again. Olivier sadly has passed on and will be missed by all for a long time to come.The ending was predictable but touching all the same.It never won any awards but twenty years later it remains one of my firm favourites for love story of the decade.

This movie seems to be about the problems of growing up smarter than everyone else, but it's a very complicated little movie. Everyone in this movie wants to be like the people in the movies, even though they fall far short. There is a brief cameo by Broderick Crawford at a wrap party. Crawford is not interested in art. He wants booze and broads. The director, who is romancing Diane Lane's mother, is a schlock director, but is flattered by people's belief he is an artist. Olivier plays an old man who pretends to be many things, but turns out to be a petty crook. As for the two young lovers who want to seal their love by kissing under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice as the church bells sound, they want to be Bogey and Bacall.

Well, didn't we all? Don't we all?

This movie is very special to me. I saw it with my first girlfriend. I thought, "Wow, they made a movie about me." This is a truly amazing movie. Sure there are contrivances but really the romantic angle works.

This movie has everything, philosopy, romance, adventure, love, discovery of self love and France. Who could ask for more. It has a wonderful cast. Diane Lane is absolutely wonderful. Sir Laurence Olivier is just fabulous. The rest of cast is a wonderful collection of oddballs and nuts that are done superbly.

There is no overt sex, no violence but the movie manages to do very well without those things. It makes you wonder why they can't make more movies like this anymore. It is a complete movie. Thankfully they did not make a sequel to this one. It stands on its own. The test of a good movie is that after it ends you care and wonder about the characters. This movie really makes you wonder what happened after the movie ends.

Did she write back? Did he find another love? Will they find true love? Very few movies I have seen ever made me wonder what happened after the end.