PETITE MAMAN (2021) and AFTERSUN (2022)

"Petite Maman is short and sweet, yet fearlessly profound. A mix of fairytale, ghost story and rites-of-passage journey, this is at heart a cinematic parable about healing intergenerational wounds, about breaching the barriers that inevitably grow between parents and children." Mark Kermode (The Observer)

"What’s most refreshing about Petite Maman is that it doesn’t play coy with its magic, nor does it separate it from the sadder, darker reality that surrounds it." Odie Henderson (RogerEbert.com)

"A stunning debut that develops with the gradual poignancy of a Polaroid, Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun isn’t just an honest movie about the way that we remember the people we’ve lost — fragmented, elusive, nowhere and everywhere all at once — it’s also a heart-stopping act of remembering unto itself." David Ehrlich (IndieWire)

"That a director can summon such emotional maturity paired with grand narrative originality in her first outing, particularly working from a deeply personal standpoint, astounds. Wells, a forward-thinking artist, invites into a vortex of feelings and sensations that fully exploits the language of cinema for its gorgeously humanistic pursuit." Carlos Aguilar (TheWrap)

*****

Dad: Some other time?

Nelly: There won't be another time.

*****

Sophie: I think it's nice that we share the same sky.

Calum: What you mean?

Sophie: Well, like... Sometimes at playtime, I look up at the sky and if I can see the Sun then... I think that the fact that we can both see the Sun, so even though we're not actually in the same place and we're not actually together... we kind of are in a way, you know? Like we're both underneath the same sky, so... kind of together.

*****

[Steve]

ahoy folks, welcome to Part Two & Three of the Summer of Bummer month. this week we'll be discussing two films that explore grief (mostly) through the gaze of children.

continuing from where we left off with RETURN TO SEOUL, PETITE MAMAN by Celine Sciamma and AFTERSUN by Charlotte Wells feel like potential responses to Freddie's eternal question: "I always ask myself the same question on my birthday: Did my mother think about me?"

PETITE MAMAN centres around 8-year-old Nelly, who's recently lost her grandmother. on top of that, she notices how this loss is affecting her mother, so for Nelly it's a double-whammy. Nelly is highly intuitive and does what she can to be there for her mom, which provides us, the viewer, with many undeniably wholesome scenes (the snacks and juicebox... 💜).

there's an important mystery to PETITE MAMAN that is best left experienced. what i will say is that writer/director/costume designer Celine Sciamma understands just how emotionally intelligent children are. they may not always know what they're feeling or how to articulate said emotions (do many of us adults actually know better ourselves?), however there's an inner resourcefulness to Nelly that's a delight to witness. she's a beacon in the darkness that is the grieving process, continually lighting up all those around her, and most importantly, herself.

*****

AFTERSUN, on the other hand, follows Sophie, an 11-year-old on vacation at a Turkish resort with her father, Calum, where they're celebrating Calum's upcoming 31st birthday. AFTERSUN alternates between someone watching home footage of their trip together, the actual experience itself, as well as abstract, dream-like sequences involving a woman at a nightclub surrounded by flashing lights and numerous people dancing the night away.

memory and time are like the gatekeepers of how we interact with grief. AFTERSUN plays around with these concepts in a way that's both melancholic and heartwarming, offering us glimpses into the tender relationship Calum and Sophie share. Sophie recalls intimate moments with her father on their trip, good and bad, as she herself turns (presumably) 31 in the present.

it's clear that Sophie, past and present, is searching for something, not unlike Freddie in RETURN TO SEOUL. writer/director Charlotte Wells is asking us to ponder whether looking to the past will bring us the solace we need in the here and now. can we create closure from replaying the past? the answer isn't always as simple as it may seem.

*****

join us Sunday, August 23 at 10am at the Red Brick Cafe for the final discussion of the Summer of Bummer.

you can rent PETITE MAMAN on Apple TV, Prime, and YouTube. there are also two DVD copies available at the Guelph Public Library. unfortunately, i haven't been able to locate a free copy on the interwebs (if you have, feel free to message me or share in the comments below!)

you can watch AFTERSUN for free on Kanopy (with your Guelph Public Library card) and Tubi (with ads).

happy watching...?