Petite Maman review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s director explores time travel

The dangers of time travel are well-known from movies. Even if you aren’t being pursued across epochs by homicidal cyborgs or futuristic hitmen, there’s the chance that you might rip open the space-time continuum, create a paradox that negates your very existence, or turn into a Claymation spaghetti monster like at the end of Timecop. You should never step on an unwelcome butterfly.

Petite MamanThis makes it a less stressful experience to be on the road. Follow-up article on her 2019 arthouse hit Portrait of Lady on Fire, French director Céline Sciamma has created the sweetest of sci-fi movies, the gentlest of time-travel tales, a compact little 72-minute film in which not much is said, but a great deal is communicated. It’s only slightly facetious to compare Petite Maman’s premise To Back to the FutureThese films tell the story of a young man who travels back in time to meet his mother, when they were their age. Don’t worry, though. In Sciamma’s film, there’s no weird sexual tension.

Joséphine Sanz makes her screen debut as Nelly, an 8-year-old girl who, as the film opens, is going from room to room to say goodbye to the residents of her grandma’s nursing home. Nelly’s grandmother recently died, so Nelly and her parents are closing up her room before driving out to the family’s country home for a bigger clean-up job. Once they arrive, Nelly’s parents have some sort of off-camera discussion — we never find out what about — and Nelly’s mom (Nina Meurisse) goes back to the city. Nelly is left behind with her dad (Stéphane Varupenne), who says they can leave as soon as they pack up the last of Grandmère’s things.

Foto by Neon

Puttering around the nearly empty house — little is left now but dusty shadows, crumbling school assignments, and ghostly imprints on ancient wallpaper — Nelly feels disconnected from her mom in a way she never has before. The next day, Nelly is searching for a lost ball when she spots a girl who looks exactly like her (played by Joséphine’s real-life twin, Gabrielle Sanz) playing in the woods. Like magic, the girl says her name is Marion — Nelly’s mother’s name.

Sciamma displays the incredible elements of Petite Maman It was as if being friends with an 8 year old mother would be the easiest thing in the universe. And Nelly’s curiosity about her mother’s past does make sense: Children’s existence so often revolves around their parents, but those parents had an entire separate life before any children came along. Early in the film, Nelly complains to her dad that he and Mom never tell her “any of the real stuff” about their childhoods. Which were their fears? What were their dreams? Nelly, in this tale, discovers a (admittedly quite strange) way of finding out.

Foto by Neon

The Sanz twins’ performances are similarly unembellished. When Nelly goes into the funhouse-mirror version of her grandmother’s house for the first time, she doesn’t scream, jump, or even giggle nervously. Then she excuses herself politely and races home. It is also muted. The characters spend a good deal of time quietly enjoying each other’s company: Nelly and Marion build a tree fort, make pancakes, read, explore, and play pretend. The scene may change the mood depending on how simple their activities are. Para One’s lush synthesizer sounds and exquisite color palette make it feel as if you are holding a tiny jewel. Each facets of the gem catches the light.

This is the most beautiful thing about Portrait of Lady on Fire It is how the characters view each other. As in the film. Petite MamanLove is expressed through small gestures and meaningful glances. It’s just that the type of affection being explored in this film is the love between mothers and daughters, a bond that can be extremely close and unknowably distant at the same time. Petite Maman is the work of an unusually sensitive filmmaker, and it speaks to Sciamma’s skill as a director that she’s able to express the nuances of this complicated dynamic through such simple actions and words.

There’s a deeper sadness around the edges ofPetite MamanNelly can’t understand the sadness of adulthood, and it is something that Nelly doesn’t quite get. This film is still child-like, but it shows the complex emotions on display. Mothers and children of all ages will be able to see the world through their eyes and in different ways. Petite Maman. They can all find some comfort from the soft fantasy of acceptance and understanding.

Petite MamanOn April 22, the film will be released in theatres.