Amazon.com

Live-action films about the very young are rare, and even more rare are such films that work as well as Ponette does, without cloying or pandering.The film stars 4-year old actress Victoire Thivisol as Ponette, who's lost her mother in a car accident.The rest of the film has her dealing with this loss, helped by relatives, but mostly by the other children she knows, and the help is sometimes heartening and sometimes hindering.The core events in the film are nearly all enacted by children, peers of Ponette.Sequenced as they are, they form what can only be termed the mythologies of childhood, using the contrast of childhood and death and the children's take on it to drive Ponette's changing attitudes.The result is seen passing across the face of Victoire Thivisol, one of the most luminous faces since Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. Filmed cannily in close-ups, we're always privy to the artless emotions of the young girl.She's not old enough yet to have learned to dissemble.Her direct, unaffected performance (if that's what it is) draws us close in as few films have been able to do.If you're unaffected by this film, you might want to reconsider what kind of organism you'd like to be other than a human being.Victoire Thivisol was named Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival 1996. --Jim Gay ... Read more

Reviews (84)

Thivisol is indeed "a child of God"....
I can't tell you how long I've waited to get my hands on this movie. After trying to order it twice and asking many times in the video store, I finally got it as a rental.

How refreshing it is to see how far a child's perspective and emotions can carry a film.

After seeing so many enormous reviews for this movie, I had huge expectations. I was not disappointed. It has an amazing way of taking a simple enough storyline, adding a whole lot of emotion and various characters with their own beliefs, and creating an incredible film that speaks directly where it needs to speak.

"Ponette" has the immensely talented Victoire Thivisol carrying on the title role in the story of a four-year-old little girl. Traumatized after living through a car crash that killed her mother, Ponette is sadly forced to undergo more human pain and suffering than any child her age--or any grown human being, for that matter--normally should go through. Her emotions are thoroughly misunderstood by her estranged father and the other people in her life. While she is worlds apart from her cousins, her peers, and her entire family, she immediately clings to the idea that she can communicate with her mother and see her again. But with everyone around her giving her different viewpoints and various outlooks on God, it is often much more than this little girl can handle herself. Only through a very strong and important vision can Ponette finally discover a sense of peace and understanding and, most importantly, be able to go on living her young life.

Victoire Thivisol.......WOW! what is there to say about this tremendous little actress that has not already been said? She is absolutely incredible. This is not just a young actress--this is a four-year-old child kicking off her acting career with an extremely complex, emotional, and STARRING role. To get a child this young to do the kind of things that the script called the character to do is just unbelievable. After pulling off this kind of challenging role with such a natural and passionate ability, I'd have a hard time believing that there's any type of acting that Thivisol can't handle. As stated in the film, she is a true "child of God" with tremendous potential in the acting business. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to work with her after seeing her performance in such a hardcore, moving role.

With this being said, I have to warn you that you need to watch this film with an open heart, and not a mind with such high expectations. After hearing such good reviews, I expected this film to be the absolute most incredible piece of moviemaking in the world. Literally. You need to let go of all that and just absorb yourself in little Ponette's world. Watch it another time if you need to; only through a wide-open heart can you truly get as much out of this movie as possible.

The only part about the film that made me a little skeptical was the way Ponette's mother was presented. "You are nutty but nice. Stop crying; stop complaining. I can't stand a crying child." Somehow, through these words, she is almost telling her little daughter that her emotions and her ways of expressing them are unnatural and unacceptable. What kind of parent would say this to their four-year-old child who is under such emotional distress and does not understand why she can't be with her mother? It seems like Ponette's superiors are all oblivious to her pain and do not know how to help her, let alone simply allow her to grieve. I mean, come on--she's not feeling sorry for herself; she's in PAIN--deeper pain than some people never know in their whole lives.

Nonetheless, this is Ponette's story, and nobody else's. It allows her to share what SHE is going through and tell the story of how she, as a four-year-old child, is coping. It is an emotional headfirst plunge into her distraught life and her personal attempt to put her mother right in the center of a religion that will allow eternal interaction between her and the beloved parent she has lost. Maybe you'll cry, maybe you'll go and hug your mom, maybe you'll use what you learned to make your life better and more liveable. No matter how you react to this movie, however, you will most likely be genuinely touched and forever changed by Ponette's lesson. It's a film centered around children--very young children--but don't doubt their amazing ability to teach you. Children are, in certain ways, some of the best teachers out there. Ponette has a lesson to share that humankind is not meant to forget. Rent it...buy it...do whatever you can to make sure this movie makes it straight to your heart, because once you watch it, that's just where it will go.

STUNNING AND CAPTIVATING
One of the guys who works at a local video store that I frequent, when I asked about this film, said 'It's probably the saddest film ever made.' Whoa. That's a pretty strong statement, and it further tweaked my curiosity. When I finally got around to watching it, I could see where he was coming from - but there's a lot more to this fine piece of filmmaking than that. This is definitely one of the most moving films I've ever seen - and the performance by 4 year-old actress Victoire Thivisol (who portrayed Anouk in CHOCOLAT so well, 'later in her career') is absolutely stunning. I saw the blurb on the cover touting her 'best actress' award at the Vienna Film Festival for her work in PONETTE - it's easy to see why.

Written and directed by Jacques Doillon, PONETTE tells the story of a very young girl coming to terms with grief and death - hard enough for anyone, but her first experience centers on the death of her mother in a car accident. Ponette was in the car as well - she wears a cast on her left arm for the entire film - so she has that trauma to deal with also. Her father isn't around much - he leaves her in the care of her aunt Claire - and when he's with Ponette, he seems to have difficulty exercising empathy and understanding with her, which could easily be due to his own grief over the death of his wife.

With the help of her cousins, her aunt, a few understanding schoolmates, a very sensitive and kind teacher, and the strength of her own spirit, Ponette makes the journey to healing. Getting conflicting advice on death and religion from several quarters, she searches for the path that resonates with truth within her. The performance Victoire Thivisol turns in here will astound you - I can't recall ever seeing a child this young in a role so demanding do such a fine job.

The ending - to which some reviewers have taken exception - worked into the film nicely, I thought. Much of an individual's objection to it (and I won't spoil it) has to do with his or her own beliefs and feelings - but I thought it fit the story here very well.

A minor note -- the information on this product page is a little confusing. It says 'color/widescreen/Dolby', and then in the 'further details' page says 'full-screen' under 'features'. The film is in full-screen format on the DVD -- but this certainly doesn't detract from the enjoyment of it.

All in all - I can recommend this film VERY highly, but as another reviewer wisely advised, have a box of tissues handy.

About belief, magic and coming to terms with grief
This is quite an amazing film; the lead actress is Victoire Thivosol ("Chocolat"--Anouk) who gives an award-winning performance at the tender age of 4 years old. She plays Ponette, the young daughter of a woman killed in an auto accident. Her father, unable to deal well with the loss himself, leaves Ponette at an aunt's and ultimately at a children's school. During the school days and the weekends with her cousins, Ponette deals with the horrendous loss. She seeks her own form of belief, and is bumped around by all the other children, who good-naturedly or not try to share their own beliefs and magic gestures to make sense of the world.

The ending doesn't please everyone but I liked it, especially for the cameo role played by Marie Trintignant. The camera angle is interesting throughout--tight and close and at child-level. We see the world up close and at Ponette's viewpoint, adding to the feeling of being overwhelmed and buffeted by life.

This film is well-deserving of the many awards it received and Victoire Thivisol is nothing short of amazing. Definitely see this one.

Beautiful, miraculous, perfect
What a movie! And what a performance by the little girl in the title role. Having been a professional actor for many years, I can tell you without reservation that I have never ever seen a child of four give a performance such as this. This is the story of a little girl who, after her mother is killed in an automobile accident, must somehow come to terms with her grief, lonliness, and her powerlessness. She also must somehow make sense of a world she does not fully understand, and a God she seemingly cannot communicate with. It is all done from the child's point of view, and beautifully and sensitively portrayed. I laughed and wept, but am still, after many viewings, totally in awe. I can't imagine anyone not being touched by this film.

a film to remember
I saw this movie when it was playing in select theaters while on vacation. I sat there alone at the theater just there to relax. I had read great reviews about the film - but was not prepared for just how much this film would mean to me. I cried and laughed and understood along with Ponette and her friends - there in the movie theater. A couple of years later, my own father passed away of who I was extremely close to. Even though I was already an adult, watching Ponette a couple years prior came into my memory when dealing with my fathers death. I could relate to the way people around me tried to "help" me deal with the passing - to how Ponette's friends and family also helped her. If you've ever lost a parent or someone very close to you, this movie will pull at your heartstrings..and will become a friend to you knowing that you're not alone in having to cope in your own unique way.
I recommend this movie to everyone (even those who have not experienced death of a loved one). The child actors are AMAZING, it's like they aren't acting and this is just a home video. I recently watched Chocolat (without paying attention in advance to who was acting in it) and Anouk's face was sooo familiar to me. I couldn't wait to see the ending credits to confirm it was Victoire Thivisol - the little girl who played Ponette. She's an amazing actress! ... Read more

Amazon.com

The carefully unattached existence of working girl Nathalie Baye is suddenly upended when lovesick hunk Samuel Le Bihan introduces himself: "My name is Antoine and I love you." Set in a cute glass storefront with a neon pink and blue façade that could have sprung from a Jacques Demy musical, this bittersweet romantic drama was written for the arresting Baye, who plays a middle-aged "girl" in a uniquely Parisian beauty shop that specializes in facials, body treatments, massages, and emotional confession. Her coworkers, young, sweetly guileless brunette cutie Audrey Tautou and gloomy twentysomething Mathilde Seigner, are like glimpses into her past lives, one full of hope and giddy optimism, the other turned resentful from disappointment. She clings to the girly camaraderie and workaday autopilot of her job while her "patronne" (the incomparable Bulle Ogier) nudges her toward responsibility.

Writer-director Tonie Marshall has a marvelous feeling for the women who work and visit the place, though her soulful bohemian artist Le Bihan is defined by little more than good looks, shaggy charm, and a kind of reckless attraction. The film is at its best with the women: the easy by-play and guarded emotions of the shopgirls, the often uncontrolled outbursts of the offbeat and oddball clients, and especially the haunted and lonely performance from Baye, who warily creeps out of her shell for another chance at intimacy. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Leave it to the French...........
Tonie Marshall's "The Venus Beauty Institute" could have only been made in France. It is a mature work that is silly, serious, sexy and ultimately sublime in its' treatment of love and relationships. In the film Nathalie Baye plays tough cookie Angele who uses one night stands to survive one lonely night after another. She is the agressor and wants nothing to do with Love. One of the great things about this film is that Angele cruises train stations and fast food joints (only in France does fast food mean lamb shank, baquettes and napoleons!) for sex and it is neither sleazy of pitiful! Just when you start to feel that you know what the story is ...along comes rough and tumble Antoine to upset the cart, both ours and Angele's. Much happens in this film and it's all sexy, racy and done as well as anything I've seen this year. American film makers should be forced to watch this movie. No on second thought...Americans don't have it in them to make films like this. Let's leave it to the French who do this kind of film so well. Viva La France!

Nathalie Baye's film, not Audrey Tautou's
Like many people, I saw 'Amelie' and figured "I'll watch - in fact, seek out - anything with Audrey Tautou." There have been some pleasant surprises along that road - 'L'Auberge Espagnole' and 'Dirty Pretty Things' come immediately to mind. There are some bad ones out there, too. I did not enjoy sitting through either 'God is Great, I'm Not' or 'Happenstance.'

Now, with Ms. Tautou's rising international profile, we're seeing a "Tautou-ization" in the marketing of her earlier films. In 'Happenstance,' she's just part of the woodwork, yet stands alone on the VHS/DVD coverbox. In 'Venus Beauty Institute,' it's the same trick pulled on us: the marketers have succeeded in finding the *one* shot in the entire film where she happens to be poised in the center.

Which is a shame, because this is Nathalie Baye's film. 51 (and radiantly beautiful) at the time of filming, Ms. Baye doesn't deserve the short shrift she's getting here. This part was written specifically with her in mind - it's a complex role that very few actresses could do justice to.

US audiences will remember Baye as Leonardo DeCaprio's French-born mother in "Catch Me If You Can." She was also a standout with Sergi Lopez in "An Affair of Love."

My videocassette tells me this film is categorized as a "Romantic Comedy. Hardly. There are elements of humor. Mostly this is about Angèle's (Baye's) humor - the absence of it, along with the spirit and hope that seem to have ebbed out of her life. Can she get it back?

The struggle of Angele to get a good love life
Angele is a forty-something woman working at the title place, where women get makeovers, daubed with anti-aging cream, or get suntans under the ultraviolet lamps. Some men come to get massages, though. The women and men who leave are refreshed, hopefully inside as well as out, with the former being suggestively sold some product before leaving. But not Angele, it seems.

The story evolves around Angele's love life and that of the other employees. At the movie's onset, we see Angele chatting with a man who seems to have all the hallmarks of a decent guy, someone who listens, etc. only later, she gets callously dumped. Antoine, a guy who witnessed the whole thing, falls in love with her and sets out trying to win her over, as his relations with his fiancee are strained. Despite her brush-offs and not-too inviting demeanor, he seems to genuinely want her, and not be one of her one-night stands.

Which brings us back to Angele. Most of her lonely life after hours is spent picking up men at restaurants or train stations for one-nighters. She's insecure after an affair with a long-time lover that involved his face being injured. He's still there, but always doing business abroad. As a result, she comes off as being defensive, easily annoyed and angry, which doesn't do well for her potential pickups. She's been so disappointed to the point that she equates love as another form of slavery, her penchant for one-nighters emphasizing her control in her affairs.

Angele doesn't seem age-conscious here, but Nadine, the proprietor of the Venus Beauty Institute, reminds her that Angele should leave and start a salon of her own, the way women her age should. Her presence here indicates she hasn't grown up, still being one of the "young girls." The key is that maybe in finding Mr. Right, she'll be fulfilled enough to progress further in life as expected for women her age.

The youngest VBI employee, the sweet and innocent-looking Marie, has an interesting relationship with an elderly pilot whose scarred face was given a skin replacement from his devoted wife. His wife is dead and Maria's minstrations to it equates to caring for his wife since her demise. Angele wonders though if anything sinister is going on, given the tips and gifts, including a mink coat, her co-worker gets from the pilot.

Samantha doesn't have much luck in her love life, which becomes detrimental in her attitude to work and Nadine later.

Other interesting things I noticed is the courtesy the employees give their clients. Marie in particular thanks the customers for any tips, and even holds open the door for the exiting client. The most interesting customer is the exhibitionistic Ms. Buisse, who has no qualms about emerging from the tanning rooms full frontal for the public to see, the sight of which draws in gawking males towards the window in one scene.

Nathalie Baye shows once again that she is Cesar-worthy material, as she won Best Actress for her role as Angele, joining her other wins for Every Man For Himself and La Balance. However, it's no surprise that Audrey Tautou won the Most Promising Young Actress award as Marie. I don't know that a movie like this would have won best picture here, but it's a worthy vehicle for Baye, and one of Tautou's better ones.

a unique film about love
This is one of my favorite movies ever. It is very therapeutic to watch. There are many layers to this film...I've seen it a hundred times and each time I see something new.

This film is really about love, and particularly women's search for love. It seems all the other characters in the film revolve around the main character Angele, to illustrate some point about love, men, and women, and relationships, and emotions. Angele is 40 years old and very unhappy. She feels that love is too painful to embrace it fully, for many reasons which are so complicated to mention...being sexually abused as a child, being orphaned at 8 years old by her parents' tragic deaths, and guilt over some action she has committed in the past are some of the reasons.

Underneath everything I think this film is trying to express our longing to be truly, truly loved. Throughout the film we see examples of how men treat women as sex objects, (the two workers carrying the mirror, the guy who comes into the salon looking for the "finishing touches," and of course Angele's loser boyfriend from the first scene, also Angele's travel agent friend who found a record of her husband's affairs.) Women come into the salon seeking beauty treatments that will hopefully turn them into perfect creatures who can finally be loved, or to soothe their painful feelings. We can see that Angele feels so much pain, but gains so much comfort from being able to comfort others at the salon, but doesn't feel she deserves to take care of herself the same way.

Angele is afraid to be in love, because from her own experiences, love only brings pain, not pleasure...as she says, she "opted out" of love, "love, jealousy, and pain...they're finished!" Until one day, someone comes out of nowhere and gives her the unconditional love she needs. He loves her when she is not dressed nicely for dinner, he loves her when she rejects him over and over, he loves her even though she's "screwed up," even when she tells him she slept with another guy he still loves her...and he really understands who she is. In the end, Angele is able to accept love again, but getting to that place is difficult. My favorite line from the film is, "Why always say the opposite of what you feel?" What a good question.

The secret life of beauticians
I decided to watch VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE for the sole reason of seeing Audrey Tautou before her appearance in the smash hit AMELIE. Though Audrey is as enchanting as I've ever seen her, perhaps I was too hasty.

The focal point of the film is a French beauty shop, which offers mud packs, massages, a tanning booth, depilatory treatments, and the usual array of cosmetics. The heroine is Angele (Nathalie Baye), whose love life, or lack of one, is pretty much the plot. As the movie opens, Angele, no longer in youth's bloom and on the wrong side of thirty, is professing a budding affection to a younger man, who, the cad, callously dumps her after a weekend stand. As an emotional defense, Angele bitterly retreats behind the walls of Woman Scorned. Soon faced with a complete stranger, Antoine (Samuel Le Bihan), who ardently professes his undying love, Angele is determined to keep him at arm's length. In the meantime, Angele's sweetly innocent co-worker, Marie (Tautou), is slowly being seduced by a much older man who regularly visits the shop for facials. Then there's the third beautician, Samantha (Mathilde Seigner), who's only waiting to give the shop's owner, Madame Nadine (Bulle Ogier), the proverbial finger before returning to a real job - nursing.

If the strength of VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE lies in its depiction of the on-the-job interaction between the shop's employees, then the film is perhaps too much of a chick flick for me, though my wife wasn't terribly impressed with it either. Watching Angele's angst do battle with hormones wasn't riveting cinema.

Audrey Tautou is perhaps even more enthralling than that other love of my life, Audrey Hepburn. As I've stated before, Tautou's liquid brown eyes could melt linoleum. She doesn't disappoint in this film, though her role is disappointingly small. And, male pig that I am, I did pay close attention when one of the shop's statuesquely beautiful customers (Claire Nebout), an exhibitionist, twice strutted all her stuff full frontal. Beyond these diversions, however, VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE was a yawner. And the little sound effect that played every time the beauty shop's front door opened drove me nuts. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The swordplay never ends in this dazzling, Dumas-like adventure of conspiracy and revenge, set around 1700 and presented here in its seventh filmed incarnation, directed by French New Wave titan Philippe de Broca (That Man from Rio). Daniel Auteuil plays Legardere, a callow swordsman who becomes friend to and bodyguard of the Duke of Nevers (Vincent Perez). When the latter is assassinated by his scheming cousin, Gonzague (Fabrice Luchini), Nevers's daughter, Aurore (Marie Gillain), is left in the care of Legardere, who raises her within the protective camouflage of a traveling troupe of actors. Years later, back in Paris, Legardere exacts a complicated retribution under Gonzague's nose, determined to give Aurore the life and inheritance she deserves. This exceptionally handsome film is an all-out adventure, but the witty de Broca is not one to settle for mere derring-do. The great Auteuil (The Girl on the Bridge) proves as funny as he is heroic. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Overrated but entertaining
I went into this expecting it to be one of the greatest swashbucklers of all time -- as some reviews had led me to believe. Well, it isn't. But that doesn't mean that it's not well worth a viewing.

My biggest complaint is that I thought the film would have wall-to-wall swordplay. It doesn't. After the first 30 minutes or so, long stretches go by where there isn't much exciting action at all. When our hero disguises himself as a hunchback in order to infiltrate the villain's lair, the story begins to feel stale and predictable. And the finale is a huge disappointment, mainly because the lead villain isn't much of a fencer. Shouldn't the film's best swordfight have been saved for the end?

That said, the movie looks terrific and has a fine lead performance by Daniel Auteuil, who excels in both the comical and dramatic aspects of his role. His swordplay is also surprisingly convincing. While the action choreography is effective, it's not as spectacular as I had hoped. And, once again, I wish there had been more of it. Marie Gillain is quite fetching as the sprightly Aurore, although American viewers may feel uneasy about the romantic relationship that develops between her and her adoptive father.

Swashbuckling!
Alexandre Dumas made a reputation for himself writing stories chiefly about the uncommon man who had to rise to the occasion in extraordinary circumstances. Arguably, THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO stand as some of the best literature of the ages, and the film adaptations have created some of the most incredibly swordplay put to the silver screen.

The little heard of and rarely seen ON GUARD ("Le Bossu," 1997, from the French novel by Paul Feval of the same name), by far, features some of the most exciting swordplay with a story that compares to Dumas' best work in many ways.

Daniel Auteuil stars as Lagardere, a budding swordsman who can't back down from a fight. One evening, upon trying to best the Duke of Nevers, he inadvertantly falls into the duke's good graces and joins him -- as a sidekick -- on a journey to rescue the man's infant daughter, Aurore. However, as the duke is soon murdered by his villainous cousin Count Gonzague (played with ample creepiness by Fabrice Luchini), Lagardere escapes with the infant and, along with the help of a traveling circus, raises her as his own child for sixteen years ... until Aurore takes up the sword and performs a move only her real father could've known, alerting the now-in-power Gonzague to the fact the the daughter has survived. Now, Legardere is faced with the ultimate challenge of devising a masterful plot to put the woman back on the throne and into her position of prominence!

Much of the film is pure plotting and humor, some of which can only be the product of the French ("Ever try sodomy, my friend?"), and I'm quite certain several of the jokes might be lost on an American audience. Still, Auteuil as Lagardere is the film's masterful stroke; he proves himself capable of a Musketeer-like defender, a loving father, and a pining lost soulmate to the lovely Aurore, all the while maintaining his sense of duty coupled with a great sense of humor.

The film is presented widescreen, filmed on beautiful locations, and the sound is very crisp and vibrant. ON GUARD is a wonderful adaptation that deserves to be discovered by a much larger audience.

Grand Entertainment
This film barely lasted a few weeks in New York City and I traveled three hours from Connecticut to see it. It was worth the trip. If you like swashbucklers this one's for you. The story is rather intricate but the film moves along fairly quickly and Daniel Auteuil is wonderful as the hero. There is a lovely relationship between Auteuil's character and his daughter.Buy or rent this one--you won't be disappointed.

BLAZING SWORD OF REVENGE
Perhaps the best picture from French New Wave pioneer Phillipe De Broca is ON GUARD (Koch Lorber). This colorful, exhilarating swashbuckler is based on Paul Feval's novel Le Bossu ("The Hunchback"). Superb swordsman Legardere (Daneil Autiel) is a bodyguard to his friend the Duke of Nevers. When the Duke is assassinated on his wedding day by his scheming cousin, Legardere vows revenge and hides the Duke's infant daughter. When the girl turns 16, Legardere helps her reclaim her inheritance, her place in society and her name. Rich in period detail, nuanced plot, clever adult dialogue (French with English subtitles) and fantastic swordplay, this film is hugely satisfying and recommended.

(...)

SUPERB ENTERTAINMENT
This is one of those rare period pieces that doesn't age. Everything about it is wonderful: acting, photography, sets, costumes, screenplay, directing. It's a beautiful story also, and all the emotions are right and the characters are fresh despite the movie being based on a 19th century novel. And the swordplay is top-notch. The origanl French title is Le Bossu, or The Hunchback. If you like romance, action, a good period setting that's done with impecable taste and atistry, and a thoroughly enjoyable and charmingly involving fable, this is one to consider. I really loved it! Some (most!) of the imagery is just magnificent. There is a sequence of dissolves that is a work of art. It's fun and very satisfying. The image of the DVD is excellent as is the sound. A must! ... Read more