An impressive portrayal of adolescence, love and religion, director Katell Quillévéré's debut film inhabits a territory associated with the films of Maurice Pialat, says Alex Davidson.
Director Katell Quillévéré and actress Clara Augarde both make their feature debuts in this hugely impressive feature following a summer in the life of Anna, a 14 year-old girl home from boarding school.
She discovers her father has left for another woman, and her mother has an infatuation with the local priest who prepares Anna for confirmation. Meanwhile, she develops a strong bond with her ailing grandfather and a teenage boy from her village.
Quillévéré’s portrait of adolescence is far more than a simple coming-of-age story. As well as the advent of sexual maturity, approached with a frankness one would never see outside of European cinema, Love Like Poison (named after a Serge Gainsbourg song) also follows the development – or disillusionment? – of Anna’s relationship with religion.
But the film’s heart is in the often lovely, occasionally shocking scenes between Anna and her grandfather, played by veteran actor Michel Galabru. The intimate love between the pair is beautifully portrayed. The film bears comparison with the work of Maurice Pialat, with which it shares themes of religion, burgeoning sexuality and small-town life.
A French coming-of-age drama, Love Like Poison is the directorial debut of Cote d'Ivoire-born filmmaker Katell Quillevere.
Anna (Clara Augarde) is a 14-year-old girl who comes back to the family home in small town Brittany from her Catholic boarding school for the holidays to discover that her father has left. While her devastated mother turns to the local priest (Stefano Cassetti) for comfort, Anna clings to her beloved grandfather Jean (Michel Galabru). As she prepares for her confirmation, Anna is drawn to free-spirited choirboy Pierre and finds herself questioning her religious beliefs as sexual desire rises irrepressibly to the surface.
