Quand j'avais 5 ans je m'ai tué

This film is obviously an adaptation from Howard Buten's novel. I read it when I was about 12 and I wanted to see the film because I didn't understand numerous points in the novel (by the time I read it, I was told that it was a difficult book and now I agree with that). Concerning this screen adaptation, on the whole it isn't very successful. The film is, however, faithful to the novel but it lacks dynamism, punch (especially the performances of Patrick Bouchitey and Hippolyte Girardot) and even originality in its making. It would have been interesting to film Gil's past before his "accident" in black and white as it was the case with " American History X" in another register. Moreover, the movie is dull and more softened than the novel, especially during Gil's fits of anger in the doctor Nevele's office. Nevertheless Dimitri Rougeul is quite convincing in his role of dreamy and capricious child even if his visions appear brutally. There's also another positive side: the music which is quite beautiful when it's played on the piano.

To finish, this movie is a dull adaptation of Buten's novel and because it's a French movie, it would be interesting to see the own vision of the novel with an American director. Maybe, he'd feel more at ease because it's an American novel.