Friends

I first saw this movie my freshman year in college. I still consider those times quite magical, and this movie fits into that profile. The young female lead was exquisite, growing quickly from an innocent-looking child intoto a young beauty. A host of movies from that era blended music, cinematography, and dialogue in a way that has become basically a lost art. Friends uses a near-classical score from Elton John with scenes of the French countryside that display like a series of paintings.

Even the somewhat-sappy dialogue fits into the culture of that era, spoken poetically by the 2 leads. The movie is truly eye-and-ear candy to be enjoyed. The subject is almost heart-breaking, as 2 youngsters try to capture happiness with methods they don't quite understand. This kind of romance has disappeared from the screen, substituted by a sort of head-banging cinematic relationship with sex and love.

I recently listened to cuts from the soundtrack on Elton John's "Rare Masters" CD. It brought back all the reasons I really cherished this movie. Hearing the voices of the leads within one cut let me once again relive the sights and sounds of an era that embraced life, love, and romance.

So many reviews have stolen my thunder as to why I like this film. I always like the Elton John music that sticks with me and the excellent scenic photography when Paul and Michelle run through a wild slough area to hug after a bitter argument. It surprised me that the actress playing Michelle was over 17 according to her biography, thus kind of a rebuttal to critics who considered it exploitive underage sex. What I like about the film is what it is not. It is not violent, cruel or insensitive. It is not some kind of mechanically constructed video game fantasy spinoff. It is not a teenage sex comedy with 50 bathroom jokes. It is unlike what American cinema churns out today. Yet reviewers of the time thoroughly trashed this film.

First love. Teenage love. We all have experienced it even if it was not as sweet as the one the protagonists share. "Friends" could be considered an adaptation of the classic "The Blue Lagoon", originally from 1949, and its remakes from 1980 (the most popular one, with Brooke Shields) and 1999 (with a young Milla Jovovich). While "The Blue Lagoon" puts the two young lovers in a desert island, with no contact with civilization, "Friends" goes the opposite route and it is sure to ring much more true and be a more difficult movie with contemporary audiences. Paul and Michelle who, for different reasons, turn their backs on family and the adult world to end up living together in a small cottage in Southern France. Having only each other and their childhood innocence, their friendship slowly develops into much more as they struggle to sustain themselves, in this sweet coming of age story. This film even to this day is controversial since the actors are teenagers and they certainly look the ages that are stated in the movie (15 and 14 1/2). The movie does contains a hint of child molesting, nudity, depictions of teenage sex and teenage pregnancy. But the real controversy is not the subject matter but the fact that Paul and Michelle's love is presented as a natural and healthy relationship. While this worked fine for stranded lovers in another time and in a desert island, having them in a modern setting presents some very difficult moral issues. Laws prohibiting consenting sex between minors are in effect in almost all countries and lack of sexual education in teenagers is seen as one of the causes for the rise in unwanted teenage pregnancies and abortions. Is a movie like this one just child pornography or a slap in the face to make us face our own hypocrisy, regarding a modern society that does not cater to teenage parents and laws that clearly go against human nature and hormonal development but that are needed to prevent child abuse? Is hormonal development parallel to emotional growth? These are not easy questions and most of us will feel uncomfortable with them. As an artistic piece, this movie is really a forgotten and rough gem. The script progresses with extreme simplicity, albeit some sappiness, but never pulling any punches to state its message, although by today standards, it is somewhat slow. The photography is beautiful and it has scenes of great beauty. The acting of the two protagonists varies from really awful in some scenes to marvelously innocent and credible in others. Pop music, unlike most productions nowadays, is used tastefully and sometimes the lyrics speak the thoughts of the protagonists. Overall, this is a delightful piece, even if the moral values are not in concordance with your own.

Perhaps the most concerning thing about this film is the way many reviewers only see it as controversial, because it deals with young love. Also the ideals it sets out are how we would like to see the world, but are often prevented from doing so.

Get past all this and you have a simple story of a boy and girl, who become friends and develop into lovers; but mostly outside of society's rules. While they pay lip service to certain conventions, they don't allow the rules to control their daily lives. The need for money requires the boy to get a job, but beyond this they live an idealistic existence in the beautiful surroundings of the Camargue.

If you don't get a warm feeling while watching this film, then you have a cynicism that will spoil any innocent storyline. This may not be the Hollywood blockbuster that makes a lot of money, but it's one of those films whose story is very relevant at any time.

When I first saw this film on video in a department store... it intrigued me. Considering the fact that I thought I was in love and I was the same age as the youths in this film at the time (although I realize they are now old enough to be my parents), plus the soundtrack being written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin just before they "made it big" here in North America... I figured I had nothing to lose in buying it. I was not disappointed.

So far, I have shown it to many guys I have dated since, and to my current boyfriend... obviously, they didn't find it as lovely as I do... preferring to call it a "chick" movie... but I still laugh and cry. This film was vastly overlooked. It's good to see it's available to rent at one of the local video stores around here so that other people can share the magic.

So maybe it's a bit far fetched... but it gives you a lighthearted sense of innocence... and a renewed faith in love.