Bonjour Tristesse, Durga Chew-Bose’s adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s unforgettable coming-of-age novel of the same name, is a sun-soaked heralding of a singular artist.
At the height of summer holiday, 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny), the apple of everyone’s eye, is languishing at the French seaside with her devilishly handsome father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his bohemian lover Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune), whose age is not far from Cécile’s. Other than tending to a budding romance with a local boy (Aliocha Schneider), Cécile has all the time in the world to float and daydream, giving her a front row seat to Apéro-laden adult conversations free of morality. Building her sandcastle just as the tide rolls in, her postcard-perfect world is threatened when a visit from her late mother’s friend Anne (Chloë Sevigny) — a celebrated American-born, Paris-based fashion designer who fits the scene like a glove — casts a shadow over Cécile’s quotidian belle vie, despite her longing to connect.
As days turn into weeks and the sun’s power fades, Cécile uncovers as many uncouth truisms about the fabulous people around her — who are just human after all — as she does about herself. Stylish, meticulous, and devastating to the core, Bonjour Tristesse is a time-marked yet timeless tale of growing up.
An adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s unforgettable coming-of-age novel of the same title (published when Sagan was only 18 years old), this sun-dappled and passion-soaked debut feature by Montreal-based writer-cum-director Durga Chew-Bose heralds a singular artist. Adorned with costuming by Miyako Bellizzi and a score by Lesley Barber, Bonjour Tristesse masterfully captures the complexity of relationships among women and how they can come to wield influence over one another’s fates.
DOROTA LECH
Screenings
Royal Alexandra Theatre
TIFF Lightbox 2
Scotiabank 2
Scotiabank 7