Spring Blossom

Director: Suzanne Lindon

Stars: Suzanne Lindon, Arnaud Valois, Frédéric Pierrot, Florence Viala.

Despite the potentially heady subject matter, twenty-year-old writer-director-star Lindon’s portrait of a sixteen-year-old and her relationship with a man twice her age, is a wilfully breezy affair.

Lindon is Suzanne, an awkward Paris schoolgirl bored and uninspired by teenage life. On her regular route between school and home in Montmartre she spots handsome actor Raphaël (Valois) who is appearing in a play at a local theatre. Raphaël is similarly disillusioned with the play he is appearing in, particularly the behaviour of his director towards him, and grumpily refuses to join aftershow get-togethers. After a number of ‘chance’ encounters arranged by Suzanne, a friendship develops between the two which develops into something else.

Viewer mileage may vary about the duo’s relationship, presented entirely from Suzanne’s point of view, but while their connection represents a romantic awakening of sorts for the teenager, it never descends into anything tawdry.

Even with a seventy-three minute running time which finds room for a trio of wacky dance sequences, the plot feels a bit thin. Still, the neighbourhood scenes feel vibrant and authentic, even if the middle class Montmartre milieu is rarefied (Lindon is the daughter of popular French actors Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain so she knows the territory), while Suzanne, a character four years Lindon’s junior, is a winningly gawky but smart protagonist.

Spring Blossom is available to stream on 23 April on Curzon Home Cinema

David Willoughby