L'adolescente

Just before World War II, a 12-year-old girl leaves Paris with her parents for a summer vacation in the country. Instead of playing with her friends there, she develops an adolescent (hence the film's title) infatuation with a 30-year-old doctor that has recently joined the village. The older man, understandably, does not return her affections but instead manifests an even less-advised interest in the girl's Dutch mother.

Directed by no-one less than Jeanne Moreau, this movie, known for it's quality as one of the standards in the 'Coming of age' genre, is far more than that. It's a story about 'La douceur de vivre', or the 'The gentle way of life' - the pureness of French country-life in the years before the second world war. It's an extremely well crafted story of love, death and life, and the little secrets the villagers share, seen through the eyes of a perfectly authentic 13-year-old girl.

Simone Signoret gives a stunning performance, subtle and genuine, as the grand-mere (Mamie) of Marie, guiding her grandchild through the summer and her first encounters with love and romance. Marie falls in love with a Jewish doctor, 30 years of age, only to find that the doctor has more interest in her Dutch mother, who is in the middle of marital troubles with her dominant spouse. Marie realizes she will be the only one who can save her parents marriage and, with the help of Mamie, consults the local 'witch' to create a love-potion.

The question is, will everything return to normal, before the end of summer? And if war awaits, will life ever be the same again? One thing's for sure: you'll only lose childhood once, and it will never return...