Le Souffle au coeur (Murmur of the Heart) 1971

Posted By : galmuchet | Date : 09 Dec 2011 16:12:01 | Comments : 2 |

Cast/Avec Léa Massari, Benoit Ferreux, Daniel Gélin...

En 1954, Laurent Chevalier, quinze ans, vit la vie normale d'un adolescent dans une famille bourgeoise de province. Son père, gynécologue, est souvent absent et son plus grand réconfort est sa mère, Clara, une belle jeune femme d'origine italienne, joyeuse mais désenchantée par le train-train quotidien. Lorsque Laurent se voit atteint d'un souffle au coeur, Clara décide de l'accompagner en cure dans le Morvan. Petit à petit, des rapports étranges se nouent entre eux...

This doesn't sound like a comedy, but Malle's film is a hilarious, screwball celebration of a young man's passage from childhood to adult life. I won't divulge what route Laurent travels on this journey, partly because the conclusion is so shocking that I can still barely comprehend it. The story seems to be unfolding before us as if it is really happening. Laurent and his mother, Clara (Leá Massari), visit a spa after doctors diagnose the boy with a heart murmur. Through a booking error, the two practically sleep in the same room and Mom's luscious curves not only capture the eyes of Laurent's friends, but Laurent himself. There's an audacious charm to Malle's script, not getting its laughs from punchlines but rather from Laurent's dispassionate social interactions with young girls he is clearly sexually attracted to, the fetching Hélène (Jacqueline Chauvaud) and her friend.