Ava

I'm American, but I like foreign movies. I especially like French movies. I most especially like French coming-of-age movies; they tend to be more authentic and honest than any others. But this one let me down, for a number of reasons.

First, the plot line of the girl slowly going blind went nowhere, and did not need to be there to justify the actions of the title character. A girl of that age, going through the changes of young adulthood, with all its mixed emotions, could easily have gone through the same experiences without that plot element. It was unnecessary.

There was some awkward editing in the film, too. It was like the filmmakers didn't know how to, or couldn't, end some scenes, so they just cut away from them. Among such moments was the scene by the raging river. It was obvious the scene couldn't be finished, so they just cut away from it. Like I said, awkward.

The worse part, though, was the lead actress. I'm not attacking her acting ability, but she just absolutely did not look like a 13 year-old. She didn't have the facial features, body, or mannerisms of a girl of that age. If they had made her, say, 16 instead of 13, she would have been more believable. And she could still have gone through the same emotions and done the same things. Honestly, that aspect, where the actress was so obviously older than the character she played, took me out of the film. Dig up an older French film named "Beau Pere" and see what I mean; there, the actress playing a 14 year-old looks and acts like, well, a 14 year old.

All in all, as French coming-of-age movies go, this was not one of the better ones.