Le souffle au coeur (1971)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Louis Malle

Writer:

Louis Malle (written by)

Release Date:

17 October 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This is a jolly coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy named Laurent Chevalier who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon...

Plot Keywords:

Coming Of Age | Priest | Teenage Boy | Young Girl | Medical Examination

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Lea Massari	...	Clara Chevalier
Benoît Ferreux	...	Laurent Chevalier
Daniel Gélin	...	Charles Chevalier
Michael Lonsdale	...	Father Henri
Ave Ninchi	...	Augusta
Gila von Weitershausen	...	Freda (the prostitute)
Fabien Ferreux	...	Thomas
Marc Winocourt	...	Marc
Micheline Bona	...	Aunt Claudine
Henri Poirier	...	Uncle Leonce
Liliane Sorval	...	Fernande
Corinne Kersten	...	Daphne
Eric Walter
François Werner	...	Hubert
René Bouloc	...	Man at Bastille Day party

Also Known As:

Dearest Love (UK)
Herzflimmern
Il soffio al cuore (Italy)
Murmur of the Heart (USA)

Runtime:

USA:118 min

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | South Korea:18 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Dijon, Côte-d'Or, France

Company:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Trivia:

While the incest aspects of the story were not autobiographical, Louis Malle did in fact end up sharing a hotel room with his mother as a child while on a trip to treat his heart murmur due to "bizarre" circumstances.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Early in the movie, Clara states that she saw The Barefoot Contessa in Paris. During this early part of the movie, the French are fighting the war in Indochina. The final battle of that war, Dien Bien Phu, occurred on May 7, 1954, 4 1/2 months before The Barefoot Contessa was released. In addition, Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14th, also before the movie was released.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Spanking the Monkey (1994)

Moving, controversial but lovable film

Louis Malle perhaps has directed his most controversial film about Laurent and his complicated relationship with his mother. Because he is the youngest of three boys, he is still a virgin and coddled like the family baby. The film seems to last forever but in a beautiful moving way. We watch as his beautiful Italian vivacious mother seems to attract admirers even her own son. Without discussing the film's oedipal issues, the film has some very pleasant scenes and some that are not so pleasant. Maybe Malle is trying to bring reality of a young body's sexuality. His two older brothers are not the sympathetic or kind older brothers to him especially. Laurent is truly the film's most important character but his mother is definitely the most important figure in his life. As he comes of age, she has to grasp with losing him to another woman, the inevitable outcome of any mother-son relationship. We learn a lot about Laurent's mother too in this film. While sexuality is another theme in this classic film, there are touching scenes between the Laurent and his mother. As he finds himself attracted to other women, he becomes daring, insulting and even unlikable. I won't give away the ending of this film. But it's worth watching even today more than 30 years later, I cannot believe it's older than me. It seems like it could have been done today and that's why it's a classic film.