Warm hearted, well acted, carefully observed and honestly presented film from the Marseilles school of social realism (`Marius and Jeanette' etc). It was nice to watch a French movie where the protagonists' relationship doesn't seem to be doomed from the start (as in `Une Liaison Pornographique', par example). She, Clim, is white and 16, he, Baby, is black and 18, and they have grown up together. The colour difference is fully accepted by friends and family (Baby and his sister have been adopted by a white couple)if not by the local bigots. The story is adapted from a James Baldwin novel set in the U S, `If Beale Street Could Talk', which I read many years ago and dimly recall as being fairly grim but this film is full of Mediterranean light.
The conflict is not so much between the central characters, all part of the polyglot working class of southern France, but the two families and, for want of a better word, the system, as represented by a loathsome racist cop, after Baby is accused of rape. But even the system works properly in the end, though the families have to hire a fancy lawyer to help get Baby out of jail. Perhaps more to the point, is that by sticking together and taking some initiative they save the situation themselves. Clim's mum takes on the apparently hopeless task of finding Baby's alleged victim in war-torn Saravejo and getting her to change her story. Along the way, several strangers, perhaps sensing the decency of these people are induced to act well themselves Clim and Baby's erstwhile slum landlord lets Clim live rent-free while Baby is in jail, a Saravejo taxi-driver helps mum find the missing witness and the witness' brother turns out to be unexpectedly helpful in the end.
There are half a dozen luminous performances here, especially Laure Rauost as Clim, whose eyes we see the story through, Alexandre Ogou as Baby, and Ariane Ascaride, (Jeanette in `Marius and Jeanette') as Clim's mum Marianne). The two fathers, played by Jean-Pierre Daurroussin and Gerard Meylan are also delightful. There's little nudity and not a lot of sex and it's not obvious why it's being treated as an art film. Maybe it's the sub-titles. To me, this is great wholesome family entertainment for viewers from about 12-14 up, a welcome antidote to Disney pap. It was a shame to see it being watched almost entirely by affluent middle-aged art-film buffs.
