Armand 15 ans l'été
Blaise Harrison
France | 2011 | 50 min
Language : French
Subtitle : English
Armand is 15 and looking forward to the summer holidays. A strongly developed feminine side allows him to share emotions and feelings with the girls. Blaise Harrison’s Armand 15 ans l’été is an enchanted portrait of a kid on the verge of becoming an adult. Filmed in a style that questions the boundaries of fiction and documentary, Harrison pays his dues to Jean Renoir and André Téchiné.
Armand is 15 and looking forward to the summer holidays. But Armand is not like all the other teenagers. He stands out from the crowd. He is a bit bigger than the rest but not clumsy. A strongly developed feminine side allows him to share emotions and feelings with the girls. Adolescence for him is a time of discovery and new experiences. Armand faces his transformations with confidence. He is not afraid of loneliness and prepares for the end of the school year. A bit more secretive than other kids his age, he feels that summer stretches ahead with the sound of crickets, texting, American TV series and long siestas in the sun. Blaise Harrison’s Armand 15 ans l’été is an enchanted portrait of a kid on the verge of becoming an adult. The director observes with affection his young protagonist as he becomes aware of himself. Filmed in a style that questions the boundaries of fiction and documentary, Harrison pays his dues to Jean Renoir and André Téchiné (namely Les roseaux sauvages). Armand 15 ans l’été is one of the best filmic debuts of recent years.
GIONA A. NAZZARO