La Petite Bon-Bon

Rating: 7/10 (9 September 2005)

This award winning French film is a frothy little confection. Short on plot (what plot?)or indeed on just about everything else too, it nevertheless took me on a wonderful trip with its music. Gerard Jugnot(and does anybody else out there think he's a dead ringer for Bob Hoskins?)shines as the inspired music teacher, a beautiful performance. There's little to the script or the other characters who are all drawn in the black and white mode so beloved of Hollywood,i.e. the headmaster: bad, the injured old caretaker: a saint. A few throwaway lines about the headmaster's daughters goes nowhere, ***minor spoiler***as does the taking of Papinot (aren't there, like, laws about such things?)from the school.***end of spoiler***. We have seen all of this in other movies, often done better but the music transports as does the cinematography which is highly evocative of the era. So a 7 out of 10 for those.