Ponette (1996)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jacques Doillon

Writers:

Jacques Doillon (written by)
Brune Compagnon (scenario collaborator: for first draft)

Release Date:

14 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An extremely captivating movie on how a little girl copes with her mother's death. She withdraws from all the people around her...

Plot Keywords:

Child | Little Girl | Death | Provence | Preteenage Heroine

Awards:

9 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Victoire Thivisol	...	Ponette
Delphine Schiltz	...	Delphine
Matiaz Bureau Caton	...	Matiaz
Léopoldine Serre	...	Ada
Marie Trintignant	...	La mère
Xavier Beauvois	...	Le père
Claire Nebout	...	La tante
Aurélie Vérillon	...	Aurélie
Henri Berthon	...	L'Instituteur
Carla Ibled	...	Carla
Luckie Royer	...	Luce
Antoine du Merle	...	Antoine
Marianne Favre	...	Marianne
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hadrien Bouvier	...	Extra
Benjamin Lemaire	...	Anthony

Also Known As:

Ponette (USA)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7

Filming Locations:

Saint-Auban-sur-l'Ouvèze, Drôme, France

Company:

Les Films Alain Sarde

Trivia:

The magic spell the kids say, "Ta'ali Takum", is actually the "Talitha koum" of Jesus. In Mark 5:41, Jesus says the phrase "Talitha koum" (Aramaic for "Little girl, get up") to a dead girl, when he resurrects her.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the cemetery scene, Ponette is shown piling dirt onto her legs as she kneels beside the grave. In the next shot, her legs have no dirt and her pants are clean.

Quotes:

La Fille de l'Internet: You shouldn't be so sad.
Ponette: Yes, I should.
La Fille de l'Internet: Your mother was sad, too. She cried on her way to Heaven. God cried as He waited for her. When God was on earth as Jesus, He cried, too. But usually He was as joyful as a child.
Ponette: It isn't joyful to be a child.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)

Children are NOT little grown ups.

"Ponette" (French, 1996): We learn that a child lost her mother in a car accident. Ponette (the child), like all children, tries to blend the various truths given her by adults, other children, teachers, books, rumors, churches...eventually arriving at her own version of Truth...a Truth that allows her to move on, with some peace. No one seems to know what to DO for her, and so, her search is solo. What most ASTOUNDS me about "Ponette" is: 1) It's written NOT by grown ups who see children as small adults, but as true children - with all the confusion, magic, and hope we seem to lose as we age, and, 2) the ACTING of Victoire Thivisol ("Ponette") is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. She received numerous awards for this role, which upset some people - because she was only FOUR YEARS OLD at the time. "HOW CAN ANYONE HAVE TALENT AT FOUR?" Watch it for yourself. No one is beating her, no one is spraying lemon juice in her eyes, no one is tickling her feet...SHE is doing her own work. It's like she is channeling the next incarnation of Meryl Streep or someone. Since "Ponette", she has done two more films, including "Chocolat" (1999) with Juliette Binoche. She is now only TWELVE. I should live so long as to follow her entire career.