À nos amours

Suzanne is 16 and she sleeps around. Luc, whom she loves, is the only man she doesn’t sleep with. Instead, she breaks up with him. Suzanne says the only time she is happy is when she is with a guy. Her behaviour leads to conflict with her parents, Polish immigrants. She first tangles with her father, to whom she confesses her sadness. After he leaves the family for another woman, Suzanne faces off against her mother and brother, who berate and beat her. To get away, the young woman goes to boarding school and marries young. But she doesn’t stay with her young husband … “You could be 15 again with me,” Luc pleads in a touching attempt to win back Suzanne’s affection. It is an apt commentary on her early loss of youth and empathy – “It’s as if my heart had run dry”. This character study of a young woman in a dysfunctional family who herself realises that she is emotionally impaired deconstructs the old myths of a “glorious youth”. The film was largely improvised and newcomer Sandrine Bonnaire won a César for her portrayal of a girl both radiant and perverse standing at the abyss of adolescence.