Souffle au coeur, Le (1971)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Louis Malle

Writer:

Louis Malle (writer)

Release Date:

17 October 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This is a jolly coming-of-age story about a 15-year-old boy named Laurent Chevalier who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon...

Plot Keywords:

Young Girl | Heart Murmur | Brothel | Mother Son Incest | Heart Disease

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Lea Massari	...	Clara Chevalier
Benoît Ferreux	...	Laurent Chevalier
Daniel Gélin	...	Charles Chevalier
Michael Lonsdale	...	Father Henri
Ave Ninchi	...	Augusta
Gila von Weitershausen	...	Freda (the prostitute)
Fabien Ferreux	...	Thomas
Marc Winocourt	...	Marc
Micheline Bona	...	Aunt Claudine
Henri Poirier	...	Uncle Leonce
Liliane Sorval	...	Fernande
Corinne Kersten	...	Daphne
Eric Walter
François Werner	...	Hubert
René Bouloc	...	Man at Bastille Day party

Also Known As:

Dearest Heart
Dearest Love (UK)
Herzflimmern
Murmur of the Heart
Soffio al cuore, Il (Italy)

Runtime:

USA:118 min

Country:

France | Italy | West Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | South Korea:18 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Franz Seitz Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Writer/director Louis Malle based many aspects of the protagonist Laurent's life on his own experiences growing up. This included his love of jazz, curiosity about literature, the "tyranny" of his two older brothers who tried to introduce him to sex, and having a heart murmur. However, Malle grew up in the 1930's and 40's, not the 50's as Laurent does.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Early in the movie, Clara states that she saw The Barefoot Contessa in Paris. During this early part of the movie, the French are fighting the war in Indochina. The final battle of that war, Dien Bien Phu, occurred on May 7, 1954, 4 1/2 months before The Barefoot Contessa was released. In addition, Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14th, also before the movie was released.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Geburtstagskinder der Nouvelle Vague (2007) (TV)

A Masterpiece.

'Murmur of the Heart' is an experience that sneaks up on you like the combined years of one's youth. The subject matter is what the repressed might reductively characterize as simple incest. That is NOT what this film is about. It is about the elastic moment of adolescence. The strange, ugly, and beautiful contradictions of familial intimacy. A boy deperate to taste the pleasures of being a man - while stuck in an awkward inbetween physical, and pyschic geography. This is one of the strongest films in all of French cinema.