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GOODBYE FIRST LOVE Send This Review to a Friend
Although the French import “Goodbye First love,” written and directed by Mia Hansen, is a delicate, sincere effort to portray the pains of growing up and learning to cope with
emotions and relationships, the main character, Camille, well-played by Lola Créton, is not particularly interesting or charismatic.
Camille is rather plain and when she verbalizes her angst at the thought that her first love wants to leave her to explore his interest in working for a year a different country, the pain sounds so very immature. That’s the point, but one can loose patience with her.
Also, it is difficult to see how her boyfriend Sullivan, nicely portrayed by Sebastian Urzendowsky, can be so serious about her in the first place. She’s sweet but in a very childish way, and despite all the sex, it is easy to see why he would want to take off. It is difficult to become wrapped up in their relationship problem.
The film is mature in that it demonstrates how life has a way of sorting things out, so that even the passion of first love can eventually be put in perspective. As Camille gets over her disappointment and becomes more grown up, she encounters Lorenz, a Norwegian, played by Magne-Havard Brekke, who becomes her mentor as she pursues her desire to be an architect. It is easier to see why she falls for him than why he falls for her.
Always simmering below the surface is her lingering feeling for Sullivan, who upsets things when he returns and comes back into her life. Camille has to decide what she really wants and weigh the choices.
The film’s seriousness and honesty are its strong points, but I wish I could see Camille as a more exciting character. I suspect that women viewers may, in light of their own growing pains, find it easier to relate to the emotions Camille experiences without concern as to the charisma she lacks. A Sundance Selects release.
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