Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

Bonjour Tristesse
Directed by Otto Preminger
Written by Arthur Laurents based on a novel by Françoise Sagan
1958/USA/UK
Wheel Productions
First viewing/Amazon Prime

[box] Cecile: It’s getting out of control. I just wish I were a lot older or a lot younger.[/box]

I don’t remember Otto Preminger for his imagery but this is a beautiful film.  Of course, the Riviera never hurts.

As the film begins, we are introduced to Cecile (Jean Seberg), a young girl who drifts from one man to another, feeling nothing for any of them.  Her life is filled with a deep sadness. As she dances to the title song, she thinks of happier times and we segue into flashback. Scenes of Paris in the present will be alternated with scenes of the Cote d’Azure in the recent past throughout.

Cecile and her father Raymond (David Niven) are kindred spirits.  He is a playboy who has a ditzy blonde in tow for the duration of his vacation and she lives for fun and good times with a law student she hooks up with.

Into this menage comes Anne Larson (Deborah Kerr).  Raymond has even forgotten that he invited her to come down for a couple of weeks.  The fashion designer is a more serious sort.  When she and David fall in love, she tries to steer Cecile back onto the straight and narrow.  It proves to be the recipe for the tragedy that haunts the girl’s Paris nights.

I’m still sorting out my feelings about this one but overall I was entertained.  Jean Seberg’s flat line delivery has always left me a bit cold but she certainly is beautiful and suits her character well.  The Riviera never looked better and the black-and-white sequences could almost have come out of a French New Wave film.

Montage of clips set to the title tune