The films of Otto Preminger share for the most part a detached objectivity in their attitudes to character and moral issues
In "Bonjour Tristesse," his gamine protégé Cecile (Jean Seberg) is a very peculiar girl, maybe spoiled and willful and arrogant and lazy
Anne (Deborah Kerr) had made her look at herself for the first time in her life
And that turned her against her
And now, her father is not having fun anymore, which was probably another reason she decided to get rid of her
How carefully and how seriously she went about that decision, is the tale of Françoise Sagan, published in 1954, by the time she was nineteen
Raymond (David Niven) is a bundle of surprises
For him, it's such a wonderful fun to have Cecile for a daughter
And loving Anne doesn't mean that he loves his daughter any less
The wealthy playboy becomes serious from the moment that Anne arrived
He could never think of her as just someone to have fun with
He does have fun with Elsa (Mylène Demongeot) but that's a long way from being all he wants
Now, he has never wanted any woman the way he wants Anne
Anne spent her honeymoon by the sea 12 years ago
She had quite a debate with herself before coming down to the French Riviera
For knowing that Elsa was there, she got stupidly angry and decided to leave
Then the prospect of packing and looking for a hotel was too much after that long drive so she decided to stay
Being too sophisticated (maybe for discovering occupied territory), Anne was as suspicious of summer as she was of Raymond in spite of the fact that she knew him 15 years ago, and was quite sure that with him, nobody is safe
For Cecile, Anne is prim and prissy and prude
For a woman who hates vulgaritieseven when they're funnyshe could never be seriously interested in a man like her father
So part of her was angry, part was happy, all of her was excited
Her father had brought a girl to the seashore, made her go out in the sun and then when she was a mess of peeling, dropped her like a hot lobster
It was unfair
Yet even while she was angry at him, she was proud that he had gotten the unattainable Anne
Anne looks now softer
She moves easier
In the morning, she seems as though she had the most wonderful secret in the world
Suddenly she becomes aware of a great responsibility towards Cecile, as it would be good if she stops seeing Philippe (Geoffrey Horne) and studies for her philosophy examination
Cecile becomes furious at her interference
Anne wants her to study and not to see Philippe
So what shall it be? For her, there'll be a man to take care of her
And she doesn't need a diploma for that
Now she hates Anne
For her, she has changed her father
She'll change her and will change everything
