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Credits
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Summary
19 year old Boni lives alone in the Marseilles flat he inherited from his mother and makes
a living working on a pizza stall. To break the routine of his humdrum life, he
mixes with arms traffickers and fantasises about the woman who runs a baker’s shop.
One day, Boni’s 15 year old sister Nénette appears out of the blue
and says she is pregnant. Boni has not seen his sister for years, since his parents
separated, and is reluctant to let her move in with him. Gradually, Boni develops
an affection for his younger sister and her unborn baby, not realising that Nénette
has no wish to keep the baby...
Review
One of Claire Denis’ most potent films is this carefully woven portrait of isolation and
estrangement, centred around an adolescent young man desperately looking for meaning in
his life whilst rejecting all family ties. Beautifully filmed by Agnès Godard
and with some impressive acting performances, the film captures the realism of a life
on the margins of society, but with a lurid poetry which seems to be filled with humanity.
In contrast to much of Denis’ other work, Nénette et Boni is less hampered by excessive artistic pretensions or overly conscious attempts to make a social statement. The situation and the characters in this film have a depth and language of their own, making Denis’ artistic excesses (so visible in films such as Chocolat and Beau Travail) superfluous. This is not to say that the film does not carry Denis’ personal stamp - it clearly does. However, by not submerging her characters in an unnecessary deluge of artistic licence, the director allows the film to speak directly to the audience, through simple and effective images which are alternately shocking and poignant. The result is one of the most evocative films of adolescence made in France in recent years. Nénette et Boni was awarded the Best Film prize at Locarno, where its two stars, Grégoire Colin and Alice Houri won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards. © James Travers 2001 Write a review for this film... |
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