A six-year-old who feels her parents ignore her to the point of invisibility decides to test the hypothesis by simply not getting into the station wagon's back seat, slamming the door without getting in when the folks depart back to Paris from the family's every-weekend country retreat.
What starts as a somewhat petulant (if amply motivated) dare of sorts turns into an adventure in the forest, filled with sly lessons for both her and her parents. It is all handled from the child's perspective, with a marvelous performance from the girl (the director's daughter) and subtle overtones of Jack and The Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and even Huckleberry Finn. The mood is both sweet and suspenseful, and the humor is uncloying and avoids cheap laughs. (Well, one involving a creature she dubs The Beast...but it IS funny.)
The only way I can figure out the low user rating for this splendid, simple, yet deeply thoughtful film is that the tempo is somewhat slow, perceptively paced to the way a perceptive child takes in the world. Suitable for kids? Sure, if they're not hyper and understand French..or can read the subtitles (almost all the "dialog" is her inner thoughts).
And not to worry, Mom and Dad: the original title translates to "No Wolf".
What starts as a somewhat petulant (if amply motivated) dare of sorts turns into an adventure in the forest, filled with sly lessons for both her and her parents. It is all handled from the child's perspective, with a marvelous performance from the girl (the director's daughter) and subtle overtones of Jack and The Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and even Huckleberry Finn. The mood is both sweet and suspenseful, and the humor is uncloying and avoids cheap laughs. (Well, one involving a creature she dubs The Beast...but it IS funny.)
The only way I can figure out the low user rating for this splendid, simple, yet deeply thoughtful film is that the tempo is somewhat slow, perceptively paced to the way a perceptive child takes in the world. Suitable for kids? Sure, if they're not hyper and understand French..or can read the subtitles (almost all the "dialog" is her inner thoughts).
And not to worry, Mom and Dad: the original title translates to "No Wolf".
