This French-Canadian bittersweet dark comedy was released in 2008, but has just been made available with English subtitles.  The year is 1968.  Leon is 10 years old, and lives in the suburbs near the countryside. His parents have a terrible marriage and fight all the time.  Leon acts out in reaction to their troubles, causing spectacular amounts of mischief and destruction.  When his mother moves out to go to Greece, he goes even further.  He gets in league with Lea, a girl about his age, whose uncle beats her, and together they run away.  Leon is reckless and self-destructive.  The film starts with him hanging by the neck from a tree while his mother and brother stop him from dying.  We get to see the world mostly from Leon’s point of view, and we can see how actions make some sort of sense to him.  When his parents are arguing, he starts a fire o their bed, which interrupts the argument and gets them working together to put out the fire.  Vandalizing a neighbor’s home gives him some sense of control in his life.  It is easy to sympathize with him.  We don’t get to learn much about the lives of the adults, and what we do see of them is not impressive behavior.  The acting by the child actors is mostly strong.  In just a few scenes, it seems awkward.  This is a touching and sad movie that takes childhood unhappiness seriously.  Some viewers may find it disturbing to watch a child make several suicide attempts, especially when there’s a slightly whimsical attitude towards this despair.  But the film would be unbearably painful to watch if it didn’t lighten the tone. 

© 2014 Christian Perring

Link: First Run Features

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York