Starring
Eloenore Klarwein, Odile Michel, Anouk Ferjac, Michel Puterflam, Yves
Renier. Directed by Diane Kurys. (1977/101 min).
AVAILABLE
ON BLU-RAY FROM
Review
by Mr. Pawsđ˝
This
was the first foreign language film I ever saw. Not on purpose, mind
you. No 13-year-old would ever consciously go to a
movie that required them to read.
My
parents needed to do some kid-free errands downtown (it was Christmas
season) and offered to drop me off at the movies while they shopped.
Mom checked the newspaper and found something called Peppermint Soda, which was
rated PG with an ad featuring two kids roughly my
age. I guess she assumed it was a family comedy or period piece like
American Graffiti. Since the theater showing it (the now
defunct 5th Avenue Cinema) was only a block from where they'd be shopping, she thought it'd fit the bill. I was cool with being dropped
off, since spending afternoons alone at the movies was my favorite
thing in the world (still is, though I mostly do it at home these
days).
What
none of us realized was the 5th Avenue Cinema was essentially an
art-house that specialized in foreign and independent films. I was aghast to discover
Peppermint Soda was a French film with subtitles. But it was
too late to run screaming to the box office for my money back. Mom and Dad had already taken off. So I reluctantly sank into my seat and prepared for two hours of sheer boredom, a feeling initially
exacerbated when the film was shaping up to be about two sisters from
a broken home who attend an all-girls' school.
 |
| Village of the Damned II: The Puberty Years. |
But
as I learned that afternoon, you kinda forget you're reading
subtitles if a movie's any good. Peppermint Soda didn't
exactly rock my world - nor does it 40 years later - but I found it
surprisingly engaging, particularly when it focused on Anne (Eleonore
Klarwein), the younger of the two Weber sisters. Maybe because she
was my age with a similar penchant for getting into trouble. And
like a lot of us in adolescence, she's unable to explain what compels some
of her questionable actions...they just seem like a good idea at the
time. The film was also my first eye-opening introduction to certain
"female" issues that just weren't discussed in the company
I kept. Less interesting was Frederique, Anne's older sister and
occasional mentor (though she isn't always an exemplary role model).
Her increasing activism wasn't anything I could relate to, and even
today, the character simply doesn't feel quite as authentic as Anne.
The
film's episodic structure works in fits and starts, a series of
vignettes that make up the girls' tumultuous school year, both in and out
of the classroom. Sometimes it's funny, revealing and
thought-provoking. But just as often, the narrative is
dramatically-slight and meandering, occasionally dedicating too much
screen time to subplots that aren't so interesting. Still, for a
low-key, subtitled film with no car chases, spaceships
or fart jokes, I found it an agreeable way to spend a Saturday
afternoon.
Revisiting
Peppermint Soda four decades later, I was able to appreciate
the more bittersweet, autobiographical aspects of the film, courtesy
of writer-director Diane Kurys. And as a middle school teacher in the
real world, I may not relate to Anne like I once did, though I do
interact with kids exactly like her on a daily basis. My issues with
the pacing and some of its superfluous story elements haven't
changed, but as a coming-of-age story, the film remains quietly
charming.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
INTERVIEW
- With Directer Diana Kurys
INTERVIEW
- With Actor Eloenore Klarwein
FEATURETTE
- "A Meeting with Yves Simon" (the film's composer)
SCRAPBOOK
FRENCH
RESTORATION TRAILER
2018
RE-RELEASE TRAILER
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.
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