Friends

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.

Well.....I wouldn't want to lecture anybody but I do feel the urge to say some things I consider important about this BEAUTIFUL film. I saw it for the first time in 1976 (I was 14) and then one more time a year later. That was it. The rest of it was the pink LP of Elton John's soundtrack getting the music and the story deeper and deeper inside my heart. How deep? A week ago my cousin gave me a VHS copy as a present. (No DVD's yet). Boy....was I surprised!! Poets have always sustained that deep childhood and adolescent experiences of beauty, love, God, idealist pursuits, stay with you forever. Since they occur mostly at the heart's level (no intellect yet!), they define your soul's contours like a sculptor would do with a stone. If sometimes we didn't tend to forget how right they are perhaps we would do better in understanding the meaning of every minute, of every decision, of every turning point of our lives.

So, I confess I feel nostalgia. But the fascinating part of this is watching the film again, and through this trip back in time, enriching that understanding of why we, people from the 60's, grew up as we did. The spirit of those times is all here: a Genesis created far from the official world of consuming and economic success, make love not war, the beautiful pop ballads, the poetry of the lyrics, a totally romantic view of adolescent rebellion with the awakening of sexuality carefully wrapped in tender and chaste love, these two lonely spirits still full of childhood innocence growing together as they learn mutual commitment and turning into "adults".

I showed the film to a group of school youngsters and they abounded with such simplistic and cynical comments regarding it as naïve and foolish. Guys, be serious!! Cinema is an art and as art it reflects not only human emotions but historical moments. And this is exactly what "Friends" does in a masterly way. It reflects an idyllic idea of rebellion and new beginning we all dreamt about when we were 15. I'm now a musician and I feel some of us, artists for that matter, still dream about it!! How else could we live? That's "Friends", that's "Brother Sun Sister Moon", that's "Hair". Those were the times, still alien to AIDS, alien to explicit and vulgar texts in pop songs with no melody, to pornography presented as "sexuality", to this barbaric new "world order" growing after September 11th.

What a heart warming experience to see Paul and Michelle again, timidly and tenderly exploring the new fantasies of their romantic world. What a trip back to the very core of our hearts: to Paris, to Elton John at his best, to that urban scenario surrounded by 2 CV Citroëns and the VW Beetles. What a fresh air from the peaceful cottage in Camargue, surrounded by fishing ponds and wild horses. They made us who we are, as did Serrat in Spain, Brel in France, Peter Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Luther King, the Beatles, the early Bee Gees, Belafonte's Spirituals, Gandhi, the Gospel of Elvis.

People still hoping: get this picture. Start with innocence and grow from there. You'll find out what it's all about. And from there you'll have a solid and more truthful foundation; some ideals to look for in life, a way to handle personal and world affairs. We need so much of this today! Give yourselves the chance and maybe someday the time of cynics will end. (I have an extra VHS copy)

Santiago Zuleta. Bogotá, Colombia.

An orphaned 14 year-old (Anicée Alvina) arrives at her cousin's (Pascale Roberts) home in Paris having travelled from the South of France. Feeling alone, she soon meets a 15 year-old English boy (Sean Berg) who lives with neglectful businessman father (Ronald Lewis). They impulsively decide to run off to the South of France together and move in to her deceased father's cottage on the Carmargue near Arles where they grow up, fall in love and struggle to survive.

One thing is for sure is that this is a film that would not be made today, with the sexual attraction and the way it is depicted by director Lewis Gilbert that will be perceived as both natural and uncomfortable, with an almost disquieting voyeuristic handling of the relationship. For all this is it is a very charming and tender film with the beautiful landscapes of the Carmargue gorgeously shot by Andréas Winding and a sweet score by Elton John. Followed by a sequel: PAUL AND MICHELLE (1974).

I'm rather astonished that this film is still available in the United States, where by decree of our Congress individuals under eighteen are not allowed to be shown having sex. Or for that matter, even permitted to have sexual thoughts.

That being said, you'll like this film, if you can ignore the highly sappy plot and just enjoy the two young stars and the travelogue-like images of South of France. If you had a first love as sweet as Paul or Michelle (I know, 'sweet' is a rare breed these days)you'll particularly smile.

First of all - I'm not one to go all sappy over movies. I saw Friends in the 70's when it was first released. I was about 17 years old at the time. Even now, at age 50, I still can remember some of the scenes. The movie is sweet and sad and may actually be too tame for teenagers today but I loved it. The story is about innocence, the purity of young love and the determination of 2 young people to make a better life for themselves then they had at home. At the time it was pretty risky to have a movie about a couple of young runaways who successfully setup house and have a baby on their own. I'm not surprised the movie and Elton John's soundtrack are almost unknown today. The music is beautiful. It was unforgettable.