This fllm proves that you need something more than 'Scope and colour to make a film watchable...you need a good script and a good director, two things that are totally lacking here. Child actor Clement Van Den Bergh appears to be on valium throughout the film and displays a kind of passionless zero interest in the events and things going on around him. The film is incomprehensible and just a total mixed up mess, as if someone cut all the scenes out separately, jumbled them up and stuck them back together again in any old order. I couldn't make head nor tail of it. I stuck with it to the end just so I could see if it might get any better...it didn't. It's hard to see how talented (or talentless) the actors and actresses are, because the script they are given to work with is banal in the extreme. Which are the fantasy and dream sequences and which are the reality ones? Your guess is as good as mine. I've never heard of the director, Claude Miller, but whoever he is, he's no Carol Reed or Julian Duvivier. I see the film won a prize at Cannes Film Festival. Well, if the judges considered this load of rubbish to be worthy of a prize, just think how awful the rest of the films must have been that year. The only plus factor in this mess is that it is beautifully photographed, but that doesn't maintain interest for long.

Nicolas's father is overprotective beyond reason. He asks his son's teacher what guarantee she can give that the children will be safe on the planned trip to an outdoor education centre. Miss Grimm responds matter-of-factly that there is "nothing," and the father announces that he will drive Nicolas himself. This father also allows his sons to watch a news item about a horrible bus accident. He tells Nicolas a gruesome story about organ traffickers to explain why he will not leave the little brother in the care of a stranger. He has recently attempted suicide by slitting his wrists, and burdens Nicolas with the torments of his mental imbalance.Nicolas is a nervous wreck as a result. He is anxious, has nightmares, and wets the bed. Patrick, the instructor at the outdoor ed. centre, recognizes him as a worrier, but also "a dreamer." Nicolas also has a skewed attitude to his own body. He should be fascinated by the impending changes of puberty, but he does not understand a classmate's ribald riddle, and he thinks he's done something "very bad" when he has a "wet dream." During a relaxation exercise, "getting to know his body" brings a series of nightmarish thoughts. His interest in the anatomy booklet he gets with gas station coupons is part of what seems to be a morbid obsession. His wondering why his father doesn't return with his forgotten bag leads to visions of a gruesome accident. Nicolas spends so much time worrying about what terrible things could occur that he has begun to wonder if his "thinking hard" about them can cause them to actually happen.At the outdoor ed. centre Nicolas has something of a breakthrough. The need to borrow pyjamas leads to overtures of friendship from Hodkann, the class tearaway. His nightmare of organ traffickers shooting all the students turns into a dream of rescuing and protecting Hodkann. The nightmare of seeing his little brother kidnapped by organ traffickers turns into a dream of sharing with Hodkann the thrill of the roller coaster. Nicolas also gets to spend some time with Patrick, a teacher who is easygoing and fun. Their shopping trip to buy clothes for Nicolas is the first time he smiles.Hodkann is fascinated by the idea that Nicolas is a sleepwalker. Nicolas satisfies that curiosity by spinning a tale of seeing organ traffickers outside, and embellishes it with the claim that his father is tailing them, waiting for an opportunity to "settle the score" of the theft of the little brother's kidney. But Hodkann, totally believing, connects this with the disappearance and murder of a local boy. He reports the story to the police, thinking that he is ensuring the protection of Nicolas's father.When he hears this, Nicolas faints, thinking he is going to be in deep trouble for misleading the police during a murder inquiry. Then he is told there is "a problem at home," and that he is to be driven back by Patrick. On the way, he sees a television report of his father's arrest, and he realizes that it is his father who is in deep trouble.In the middle of all this, he sees a beautiful young mother cooing to her baby on a change table. His face takes on a tranquil look, and he exchanges a tender smile with the mother.At this point his string bracelet falls away, which the teachers had told him would be when his wish would be granted. The "Agnus Dei" from Rossini's Petite Messe Solonelle, which has been used repeatedly during the film, plays to the end, repeating at last the "Dona nobis pacem," or "Grant us your peace." Nicolas's wish may have been to be rid of his father— a wish Miss Grimm actually suggests, as a joke. Perhaps his wish was simply to be at peace— free of anxiety and nightmarish thoughts— and he now feels able to cope with his worries and can return home and ring his doorbell and face whatever awaits there.The film ends, though, with Hodkann. Whenever he has made a friendly gesture towards Nicolas, the teachers have suspected he was setting up a prank. At the end, he is summoned to the teachers' office, and shown the news item of Nicolas's father in police custody. They expect him to be sobered by the serious consequences of what they assume is a lie he has told. But he has been misunderstood again. He stares at the television, confused, dismayed, in shock. The "Agnus Dei" plays during the credits over an aerial shot of a desolate winter forest, perhaps suggesting the ultimately isolated state of a person's inner life.

This is a quite fascinating French movie, that I wouldn't call great but is a throughout good watch nevertheless.Thing that really uplifts this movie is its directing. It makes this a great and beautiful looking one. It has a great directing style, that provides the movie with a great overall atmosphere. The movie at times picks a surreal approach and the story is being told and developed slowly.And while the movie is intriguing to watch throughout, I still wished it had a somewhat better story to work with, or that it got told just a little bit better all. Because the movie picks a more stylish approach, this really starts to go at the expense of the story. Not everything gets developed properly and some things just don't get resolved at all. In the end this is a movie that will leave you with more questions than answers. This doesn't really ruin the movie or anything and it's still a good and intriguing watch but I feel that with some more story and some better development this could had been a so much better and more memorable, unique little film. To me, the movie now is just too empty, to leave a big impression, let alone a very lasting one.It's also quite hard to say what audience this movie is really for. It's one that tells the story from the perspective of a young boy but I really wouldn't call this a children's movie. It's also not really a coming of age flick and its more being a drama-thriller, told from the mind and viewpoint of a child, which still leaves the question to what audience this movie is aimed to. A simple answer would just be movie-lovers, fore this is also really a movie that isn't just for everybody's taste. Some people might find the lack of pace and occurrences too much of a miss, while others will surely be able to appreciate the style and approach this movie is taking. The movie doesn't feature the best acting I have ever seen in a French movie and I actually thought at first that this was one of those movies that used non-professional actors, to make the movie and story work out more as a realistic one. But as it turns out all of the persons involved are actually actors, with more working experience in the business. A bit disappointing but those who don't speak or understand the language will hardly have any problems with it.Nevertheless I still really foremost liked this movie, due to its fine directing approach, which kept this movie a good and intriguing watch throughout.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

A possessive father objects to having his son Nicolas traveling on the chartered bus that will take his class to the mountains for skiing lessons. The class will continue with the school work, while the children take their first lessons in the snow. The father decides he will drive Nicolas because no one will assure him he will be safe otherwise. Later, we see Nicolas, his parents and younger brother watching a newscast in which a horrible accident has killed young school children because of a driver that fell asleep at the wheel.As they arrive in the chalet where all Nicolas' classmates are being housed, the father leaves with his son's bag in the trunk of his car, leaving the boy to depend on the kindness of his friends to lend him pajamas to spend the night. Nicolas only concern is that he might urinate during the night leaving him ashamed and embarrassed in front of the other kids. Nicolas has a vivid imagination. He suffers from nightmares that keep him awake during the night. Nicolas also suffers deeply because of his strange relationship with his father. In the dorm, he becomes friendly with an unruly kid, Hodkann, who is the one that lends him his extra pajama.In flashbacks we see Nicolas with his father and younger brother at an amusement park. Nicolas wants to go on a ride which requires to be accompanied by an adult because of his age. A strange man offers to stay with the other boy so that Nicolas and the father take the ride, but the father refuses. He explains how some evil persons lurk in public places to steal children, as was the case with a small child that was recently found after his disappearance, but without a kidney.Things around the chalet suddenly become menacing when the police comes to inquire about the disappearance of a boy, Rene, who might have encountered foul play. Nicolas, who has suffered one of his worst nightmares and locked himself out of the dorm by taking refuge in Patrick's car, develops a fever. When he sees the police arrive at the school his fears suddenly make him realize who might have something to do with Rene's fate.Claude Miller the director of this film is a man that is attracted to themes that involve children in perilous situations. Mr. Miller's career shows his sensitive approach toward troubled youths. Emmanuel Carrere, wrote and adapted, with Mr. Miller, his original novel, which unfortunately, we didn't read. The film seems to dwell on the mind of Nicolas. He knows more than what he can express. This is a boy that has been traumatized by his monster father in this psychological drama. There are things that are merely hinted at, such as the incestuous relationship between father and son.In Nicolas mind some of the horror he experiences take a sexual nature, like in the night when instead of urination, the boy experiences his first orgasm, which totally confuses him. We realize early on how Nicolas has been damaged by his monster father. When he comes in contact at a restaurant with a mother that is changing her infant in a nursery, Nicolas becomes fascinated with the situation in which tenderness is given to the small baby, something that he probably have never felt from either one of his parents.Clement Van Den Bergh makes an intense case for Nicolas. The boy is photographed in close ups most of the time. His face registers a lot of what is going on in his mind. Francois Roy is seen as the possessive father, but he only shows in the first part of the film. Lokman Nalcakan plays Nicolas' friend.