Final Rating: 3/5
Bonjour Tristesse (Hello Sadness) is the aptly named drama from writer/director Durga Chew-Bose based on the 1954 novel by Francoise Sagan. Its lead, Cécile (Lily McIrney) is away from Paris for the summer in the south of France with her father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his partner Elsa (Nailia Harzoune). Cécile and her father have become very close since her mother’s passing some 12 years ago. He one day announces that Anne (Chloë Sevigny), a fashion designer and old friend, is coming to join the three of them. Cécile is, at first, excited to have her company, while Elsa is not as enthused, despite having never met her.
The beautiful seaside locale is an idyllic setting for their get-away and Cécile’s budding romance with Cyril (Aloicha Schneider). He and his mother Nathalie (Nathalie Richard) are staying nearby and she’s enamoured by Anne’s talent and love of fashion. Anne is confident in her abilities and not shy about voicing her opinion. Her manner is not terse, but lacking in a certain tact that can come across as perhaps too blunt, should you fall subject to her line of questioning, her tightly fastened hairstyle for much of the film an apt symbol for her overall personality. Cécile has failed to pass some courses at school and has to return to redo them in the fall. Anne mentions to Raymond this signifies a lack of passion evident within her, and she worries about Cécile finding a purpose.
As Anne’s visit continues she and Raymond begin to rekindle their history and Cécile is stuck in the middle. She chastises her father for doing this to Elsa, but he is not to be dissuaded, and he and Anne decide to marry. Anne then takes a more hands on approach with Cécile who is made to return to study rather than enjoy her vacation. She confides in Elsa who returns to the house to pick up some of her things, that she wants her to come back and everything will be happy again.
Elsa speaks about Raymond’s connection with Ann and how powerful one’s past can be, but the young Cécile is determined, and entreats her and Cyril to enact a plan that will make this happen, continuing to see Cyril despite Anne’s feelings. As her plan unfolds, and they make it appear that Cyril and Elsa are now a couple to incur Raymond’s jealousy, Cécile starts to feel guilty and wonders if they ought to continue. They decide to stay the course, and things soon escalate unexpectedly, eventually ending in tragedy.
Much of the dialogue and character interactions are them philosophising or opining in an oft exposition heavy manner about how they believe life should be or what truly matters in much the same way many French films of the new wave era would have characters think out loud in regards to life and ruminate as to its purpose, imbuing each sentiment with the weight of a thousand suns. The notions they espouse are often deep, and speak to the experiences as they happen, but much of it comes across a bit rigid, many issues a by-product of their privileged lifestyle.
Cécile and Anne were destined to be at odds because one views the other as adrift and spoiled with no sense of direction, while Ann is seen as too self-serious and unable to enjoy the little moments, always thinking ahead to the big picture. While they do come to a bit more of an understanding, later on it’s too late to change anything.
The cast is solid and there are some moments of real emotion and back and forth, but often the characters feel detached, caught up in their own little world as they all think about their own interest and what circumstances mean for them, at times lingering in the sadness that life brings about. Cécile and Raymond return to Paris after the summer and all that’s left is to go back to what life was before and continue trying to find one’s sense of meaning.
Thank you to Greenwich Entertainment and Bright Iris Films for the screener.
