Among the official selections of the 2011 New York, Toronto and Locarno film festivals Mia Hansen-Løve’s exceptional third feature explores with great beauty and intelligence the depth of feeling we attach to our first love.
Fifteen year old Camille is besotted with Sullivan. She is intense while he is cheerful, but the thrill of first love and sexual discovery is enough to overcome any differences. So when Sullivan decides to leave Paris for South America, Camille is devastated and imagines ending her life. But she emerges with new interests and passions, and over the next eight years develops into a more fully formed woman, an architect with a new love. When one day she runs into Sullivan’s mother on a bus, however, she can’t help asking the mother to pass on her number. Is it simple curiosity, or does she want Sullivan to encounter the new, more formidable Camille?
A great film. Achingly beautiful. Stayed with me long after the end credits. A star-making lead performance. SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
An entrancingly sweet and bracingly unsentimental story of youthful passion. THE NEW YORK TIMES
One of the most beautiful films of the year. Romantic, luminous and superb. CINECDOCHE
