Le livre de Marie

Anne-Marie Mieville, a frequent collaborator and partner with filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard (who also penned the wonderful First Name: Carmen and, surprisingly, was the one who edited 'Hail Mary'), was by the mid-eighties quite capable of being director as much as co-writer and co-editor, and made this piece about a daughter named Mary and her two parents. They're in the middle of their marital troubles, and at the start of the film are in a bind- will they split for falling out of love, or stay for their child? Soon though, as the child gets a little older, the father leaves, and the mother becomes the primary parent of the intelligent, eccentric, and funny (in a 'French' sort of way) pre-teen. The film is highlighted with a terrific bit of music from Gustav Mahler (the scene itself is surreal when you first see it, but thinking about it it makes sense from the point of view of a kid), and a quiet scene with the daughter and her father late in the film.

Nothing special, but it is a nice treat of an art film that would put off a child if one were to watch it, and should really please admirers of the filmmaker's work. Kudos also to Rebecca Hampton, who's performance as Marie is almost note-perfect for the movement of the story. B+