Title: Petite Maman from Céline Sciamma
Nelly wanders through a hallway from room to room. Everywhere she looks in the room, older people look back at her with a smile on their faces and she herself says goodbye to them. The last room is empty, it is her grandmother’s room. She has passed away and her two parents are now packing everything up. The last destination is the grandmother’s house where they will now spend a few days. The first night, her mother sits by Nelly’s bedside and they look through some old exercise books. Then Nelly begins to ask some questions, which are blocked, however, with the words, why the questions must come now all in the late evening, when Nelly should sleep nevertheless now rather slowly. The daughter, however, already has the appropriate answer on her lips. Nelly can never ask her mother at any other time, because she always has no time.
The next morning Nelly sits down after waking up directly at the breakfast table. While she eats her cornflakes, her parents act in the background, but there is a rather cold atmosphere. Nelly breaks the silence and asks about the tree house where her mother used to play. But there doesn’t seem to be too much to tell here either. Finally, Nelly goes outside, where she is greeted by autumnal colors and lots of nature. She goes in search of the tree house in the forest and finally finds it. Back home, of course, she proudly reports on her find.
When she returns to the table one morning to eat her cornflakes, only her father is still present. However, she does not find out what exactly is going on with her mother. She tries to ask her father a little about his childhood, but he prefers to dodge the question, not knowing exactly what to say. Nelly then goes outside again, this time with a jokari* in her hand, which she found in the house. A few beats later, however, the rubber band breaks and the ball flies away, whereupon Nelly goes into the forest again and this time she meets another girl her age who is pulling a long, large branch through the forest. When the girl notices Nelly, she waves to her and invites her to play along. The other child introduces herself as Marion and she would like to build a tree house, so Nelly’s help is welcome. However, the game is interrupted by a rain shower and together the two children run to Marion’s house. When they arrive at the entrance to the garden, however, Nelly stops for a brief moment. Everything looks the same as it did at her grandmother’s house. Even inside the house, many things are absolutely identical, whether it’s the wallpaper, the closet, or the kitchen, and even the rooms are all divided identically. For Nelly, of course, this seems a bit strange and ultimately she wants to leave this place quite quickly, especially when she sees a grown woman lying in bed. She quickly says goodbye to Marion with the words that she will surely be missed at home.
The next day, they see each other again in the forest and get their tree house ready. Then they return to Marion’s house. Also the woman appears again, supported by a crutch with which she moves slowly. She is Marion’s mother and she seems to be happy about Nelly’s visit. Both children then start to think up a more complex role play, with very different characters and for their roles they also dress up accordingly. The dialogues seem very serious in places and quite complex for children. Then Marion reports that she will have to leave Nelly soon, because she has to go to the hospital so that she doesn’t get the same thing as her mother. Nelly also has something on her mind and she wants to tell Marion an important secret.
Conclusion:
This film plays in a very special way with the childlike imagination and builds a world of its own, into which the viewer is actually quite unobtrusively drawn in. It seems almost mystical when Nelly stops for a moment in front of Marion’s house for the first time, but the true message is revealed only in the further course of the film and until then you wonder what the film is really about. One is taken on a sensitive journey into a childhood to learn what the mother’s motivations are and what worries or desires Nelly possesses. The dialogues between Nelly and Marion are quite powerful and unusually complex for children, which may not appeal to everyone.
Actors:
Joséphine Sanz (Nelly)
Gabrielle Sanz (Marion)
Nina Meurisse (Mutter)
Stéphane Varupenne (Vater)
Margot Abascal (Großmutter)
Director:
Céline Sciamma
Info about the film:
https://www.berlinale.de/en/programme/programme/detail.html?film_id=202111238
Movietrailer:
* Jokari = A ball that is attached to a base with a long rubber band and can be returned using a bat. Popular toy from the 40s and 50s in France.
