This film is very exciting, touching, and beautiful. It belongs to one of my most favorite coming-of-age film. There are many reasons why I love this film so much. One of them is the terrific talents of Clement van den Bergh and Emmanuelle Bercot. I think it is very hard to play the leading role in this film. Nicolas is deeply troubled inside, and the actor has to keep it hidden inside to make it convincing why the kid has a lot of bizarre daydreams and nightmares. Though he has a sad face, he must not make his feelings too obvious. The actor has to make us understand that Nicolas cries for help all the time, but not by his voice or obvious expression, but by something hidden under his expression, something hidden in his eyes, and by his imagination. I think Clement van den Bergh is really successful in this difficult role.
Bercot is also excellent. She does not portray a stereotyped teacher. She really makes this role her own by expressing feelings and emotions of vulnerable human, and that makes this teacher a real person, not only a character. I was quite impressed with her talent in the latter part of the movie after the news of the crime starts spreading.
The story is really moving, especially when it deals with the growing friendship of the two boys, and the rollercoaster scene is strongly intriguing. More importantly, the atmosphere created in this film is excellent, and owes a lot to the superb cinematography, the haunting musical score, the appropriate location, and the rhythm of the story. The vast landscape is beautifully captured by the camera, and cleverly used to mirror the psychological aspect of the character. Each nightmarish scene is intense, and the scene when the boy is frozen to death keeps haunting me for a long time. This is one of the films which must be shown on the big screen so that its beautiful atmosphere can be appreciated fully; however, it has been shown in Thailand only once.
This film does not only excel at creating the atmosphere, but also at creating the excitement. While seeing it, I couldn't guess what would happen next. I couldn't guess if the story would turn out to be one of those children films in which everybody understands one another at the end, or if it would belong to a serial-killer genre. Sometimes I couldn't guess if the scene was just a dream or reality. The ending, though quite brutal to the feelings of the characters, is done in a surprisingly delicate manner. This film should be viewed together with Festen, which partly deals with the same subject matter but uses totally different approach. Yet I think both films are similarly effective in their own ways.
Though I can't say this film is innovative, original, or significant to the history of cinema, at least this film is really significant for me, judging by its tremendous impact on my feelings. Though this film deals a lot with painful experiences, I have to say I really enjoy the trip through this film. This trip is greatly rewarding.
Bercot is also excellent. She does not portray a stereotyped teacher. She really makes this role her own by expressing feelings and emotions of vulnerable human, and that makes this teacher a real person, not only a character. I was quite impressed with her talent in the latter part of the movie after the news of the crime starts spreading.
The story is really moving, especially when it deals with the growing friendship of the two boys, and the rollercoaster scene is strongly intriguing. More importantly, the atmosphere created in this film is excellent, and owes a lot to the superb cinematography, the haunting musical score, the appropriate location, and the rhythm of the story. The vast landscape is beautifully captured by the camera, and cleverly used to mirror the psychological aspect of the character. Each nightmarish scene is intense, and the scene when the boy is frozen to death keeps haunting me for a long time. This is one of the films which must be shown on the big screen so that its beautiful atmosphere can be appreciated fully; however, it has been shown in Thailand only once.
This film does not only excel at creating the atmosphere, but also at creating the excitement. While seeing it, I couldn't guess what would happen next. I couldn't guess if the story would turn out to be one of those children films in which everybody understands one another at the end, or if it would belong to a serial-killer genre. Sometimes I couldn't guess if the scene was just a dream or reality. The ending, though quite brutal to the feelings of the characters, is done in a surprisingly delicate manner. This film should be viewed together with Festen, which partly deals with the same subject matter but uses totally different approach. Yet I think both films are similarly effective in their own ways.
Though I can't say this film is innovative, original, or significant to the history of cinema, at least this film is really significant for me, judging by its tremendous impact on my feelings. Though this film deals a lot with painful experiences, I have to say I really enjoy the trip through this film. This trip is greatly rewarding.