Un Poison violent (Love Like Poison) | Review

Among the endless number of examples where a French filmmaker has ventured into the subject matter of the relationship with god juxtaposed with the pursuit of one’s sexual desires, Katell Quillevere’s debut film is a gentler, more subtle commentary that may have similitudes to, and not have potency of a Bruno Dumont’s Hadewijch, but audiences will embrace the film and characters due to a tone that is luminous and not chaos driven. Apart from the film’s suggestive title and one scene that demonstrates that sexuality isn’t decimated once one has reached a certain age, such as the calmness of the Breton backdrop, there are no overpowering statements made here with regards to Catholicism and faith being challenged. Instead, Love Like Poison is about what you let in, what you give up and what you take ownership of at a tender age of fourteen – delicately asserted by a solid debut performance from a first time actress who looks the part.

Under the guise of what should have been an uneventful spring break coming to the bedside of an advanced in his age grandfather (played by Michel Galabru), Quillevere and Mariette Desert’s screenplay is rich in transitory details – a succession of insignificant moments that would hold very little importance to anyone except that of the film’s protagonist – a young teenage redhead named Anna, soundly played by the debut actress Clara Augarde. In the remote village setting, she finds herself in exploration mode; falling asleep next to a bedside partner in Jesus and satisfying her curiosity about boys in an Adam & Eve style. While she internally questions both her sexual awakening and her Catholic upbringing, her mother, played by a brash Lio, bizarrely finds solace in an amicable priest played by actor Stefano Cassetti. A film without any major plot developments, this prize-winning screenplay is more in tune with lighter concepts of jealousy, desire and uncertainty – beautifully rendered in a sequence where our heroine isn’t sure about accepting consecrated wafer.

A title inspired by a Serge Gainsbourg tune, the film’s only “poison” may be in the description of the mother’s character – a troubled, filled with of separation anxiety where she yearns for the renewal or the fresh kind of start that her daughter is about to undertake feels oddly stitched together. Where the film works is in the sum of the coming of age portions, an apt description of the passage from childhood to adolescence. A mostly handheld aesthetic especially in the outdoor shots contribute to making Anna’s world much more palpable, but this remains a typical French film item populated by plenty of dialogue and harmonious because daily conflicts and resolutions involve several characters. One doesn’t need strong religious convictions or intimately know what it feels to be a young girl to appreciate what this film as in store.

Reviewed at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Director’s Fortnight Section.

92 Mins. May 14th, 2010.

Rating 2 stars