Bonjour Tristesse (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

PopEntertainment
May 2
3 min read

BONJOUR TRISTESSE (2024)

Starring Lily McInerny, Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang, Naïlia Harzoune, Aliocha Schneider, Nathalie Richard, Thierry Harcourt, Rebecca Dayan, Moncef Farfar, Rosalie Charrier and Mélodie Adda.

Screenplay by Durga Chew-Bose.

Directed by Durga Chew-Bose.

Distributed by Greenwich Entertainment. 110 minutes. Rated R.

Bonjour Tristesse is a story from the past brought to the present. Based on the 1954 novel by then-18-year-old novelist French novelist Françoise Sagan, it tells a story that is supposed to be somewhat cruel and misogynistic, and yet it blunts most of the story’s spikiness. Interestingly, the 1958 film version of the book – directed by Otto Preminger and starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr and a then-obscure Jean Seberg – feels significantly edgier and more suspenseful than this modern remake.

It's not so much a matter of story – to a large extent Bonjour Tristesse (which is French for Hello, Sadness) is rather faithful to the original plot – it is a matter of mood. While the novel and the earlier adaptation had a palpable sense of danger and sleaze under the waters of its placid tale, the new version settles for the luxuriating in the placid part.

Don’t get me wrong, this film takes place in the gorgeous French Riviera beach town of Cassis and the urge to luxuriate in the gorgeous scenery and tropical sea breezes of Bonjour Tristesse can be certainly understandable. The problem is this film’s sheer laconic mood – it feels like one of Erich Rohmer’s summer films – tends to blunt much of the storyline, in particular the cruel plot twist which climaxes the film.

Still, you have to hand it to Canadian writer Durga Chew-Bose for having the courage to take on such a well-known property for her first film as a director, particularly one in which there is already a film version which is considered something of a classic.

The story is about a 17-year-old girl named Cécile (Lily McInerny) who is on vacation in a lovely villa in the south of France with her father (Claes Bang). Dad is a partier and a womanizer, and he is sharing the house – and his attention – between his daughter and his much younger, beautiful new girlfriend Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune).

Cécile is enjoying her life. She has a summer boyfriend and no worries about school. Her dad is too busy – or just too indifferent – to worry about her loafing around in the sun, lazily enjoying all of the wonders of nature and beauty.

The conflict – or what little conflict you can make out in this laconic version of the story – comes when Anne (Chloë Sevigny), a friend of Cécile’s late mother, takes the dad up on a half-hearted invitation to visit. Anne is a fashion designer, very serious but sometimes surprisingly wry. To Cécile’s surprise, Anne quickly becomes dad’s lover. They agree to marry after less than a week. And Anne starts mothering Cécile – trying to get her to put her school and her future before her new boyfriend.

Therefore, Cécile decides half-heartedly to come up with a plan to break up her father and Anne – a scheme which works with more seriousness and finality than she really imagined.

Part of the problem, probably the biggest problem with Bonjour Tristesse, is the fact that the characters – particularly Cécile – are mostly rather dour ciphers. In the older film, and in the book, Cécile had a pixyish charm. Even the dad’s slightly creepy vibe is mostly sanded away here.

Which is not to say that it is unthinkable to change characteristics of known characters when remaking a story. However, the slightly repressed vibe of the whole thing dulls the storyline – and particularly the ending. In fact, the twist ending was done so tactfully that it was completely possible to miss the significance of what happened.

Still, while the film never quite reaches the heights that I am sure it was aiming for, there are worse ways to spend an afternoon than indulging in the sun-dappled beauty of Bonjour Tristesse.

Jay S. Jacobs