Mineurs 27

Jean-Hughes Anglade might be the only French alive actor to have a place called after his name in his hometown Langeais ;unfortunately "minors 27" does not give him a single moment to shine,his part being largely underwritten.

The subject of abused minor (male) children in an outdoor center could have been treated by André Cayatte or Yves Boisset;but those directors -generally unfairly dismissed by "intellectual" viewers- had an unquestionable quality:they knew how to tell a story .The audience knew what they were driving at and their know-how was effective."Mineurs 27" was given a fragmented "modern" structure ;the first quarter is almost entirely silent and the viewer does not really know who the characters are and what they are up to;a teenager spies on another one who is in love with a beautiful girl and plays the peeping tom on the beach and in the toilets ;to give a political side (shades of Boisset but also of Costa-Gavras) to a limp screenplay,we learn that the boy in question is none other than the mayor's son.

All in all,"Minor 27" dealt with a very serious case and it failed totally to convince.