michaelRokeefe Review of Bonjour Tristesse

Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

Flirty young girl has a moody vacation on the French Riviera.

[6/10 · 28 December 2007]

BONJOUR TRISTESSE, translated into English, HELLO, SADNESS. this movie caused two immediate sensations. The novel was written by eighteen year old Francoise Sagan. And twenty year old Jean Seberg, in only her second movie, had men of all ages panting. Otto Preminger directs this enjoyable film. Seventeen-year-old and decadent Cecile(Seberg)is spending her summer with playboy father Raymond(David Niven)on the French Riviera. Raymond is sharing part of the summer with a girlfriend Elsa(Mylene Demongeot). Cecile is a tad naive, but hides this well by attempting to attract men the same age as her father. The quiet summer suddenly becomes a little rocky when another of Raymond's girlfriends arrives by a previous invitation. Anne Larsen(Deborah Kerr)is so different from the parade of Raymond's other beauties. Anne is cultured, intelligent and classy. When Raymond announces his desire to marry her, the jealous Cecile plans on ways to eliminate her. And the seventeen-year-old beauty realizes that she will always be daddy's little girl; but she doesn't foresee a wonderful life for herself. She must come to grips with the funk of stepping into a desolate future. Also in the cast: Geoffrey Horne, Jeremy Burnham, Elga Anderson and Juliette Greco.