Screening times:
Friday, June 6, 6:30 PM
Sunday, June 15, 5:30 PM
Durga Chew-Bose | Canada, Germany, France, USA | 2024 | 110m
English and French with English subtitles
with Claes Bang, Chloë Sevigny, and Lily McInerny
At the height of summer, 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny) is languishing by the French seaside with her handsome father, Raymond (Claes Bang), and his girlfriend, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). These hazy, lazy days are disrupted by the arrival of Cécile's late mother’s friend, Anne (Chloë Sevigny), which changes everything at the Côte d'Azur retreat. Amid the sun-drenched splendour of their surroundings, Cécile’s world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she sets in motion a plan to drive Anne away with tragic consequences.
Françoise Sagan’s unforgettable coming-of-age novel by the same title was written in the 1950s when the author was a teenager herself. Bonjour Tristesse was adapted once before by Otto Preminger, starring Jean Seberg, David Niven, and Debroah Kerr. This new version couldn't be more different from the previous, the debut feature of talented Montreal writer, editor, and filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose. Her vision of Bonjour Tristesse masterfully captures the complexity in the relationships between women and how they influence one another.
"Françoise Sagan was a singular force and I was inspired to use my voice to continue the story of Bonjour Tristesse, instead of simply retelling it," says Chew-Bose. "In some ways, it's a very simple story. But is jealousy ever simple? Is growing up as a girl and feeling misunderstood by those you trust most, simple? Is finding love in the same places you might find pain, ever simple?"
"Bonjour Tristesse works best as a sustained mood, as an evocation of long summer days that might not actually exist outside Eric Rohmer films and fashion magazine photo shoots." - Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com
"Chew-Bose makes a convincing case for the remake by showing, like Cécile, a keen awareness of how to direct a gaze." - Natalia Winkelman, New York Times
"Rest assured, Chew-Bose’s debut film is neither late nor unexciting; it is appropriately bitten off from the repressive climate of pre-Neuwirth Law France, and able to engage its existential manner with care and ingenuity." - Saffron Maeve, Globe and Mail
Tickets $12 ($11.40 cash at the door if available). Prices include HST and online booking fees where applicable.
