Reply to Topic
It all starts with a gallant greeting " Call me Bogie"(reference to two movie stars who have become a couple), Lauren and a movie -loving French boy Daniel meets up with each other when she accompanies her mother to a film set. Lauren is almost as perfect as you can ever ask from an upper-class teenager, she's beautiful, smart, has got decent taste and charismatic personality. She lives in Paris with her mother and her second step father for 3 years and speaks fluent French. Daniel lives in the suburb just outside of Paris with his father who drives a cab and overcharges his clients. After a brief encounter, they arrange for their next date and soon find striking similarities between them that at the same time make them stand out from the rest of the peers. They read Heidegger and existentialism, have same dislike for the translation. How delightful it is to find someone who understands what you are talking about and can share opinions with you on something that you normally only keep to yourself. Then their chance encounter with Julius turns out to be a catalyst for their little romance. Julius tells them a beautiful Venetian legend that if two lovers kiss in a gondola under the bridge of sighs at sunset when the bell of campanile tolls, they will love each other forever. He also shares with them his love story with his sweetheart, along with a cute anecdote relating Lauren's favorite poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which later turns out to be a bunch of lies. Nevertheless, the legend fascinates Lauren and fills her little heart with longing. When she later finds out that her family is to move to Huston, she decides to overcome all obstacles and go to Venice with Daniel to have the kiss, with the help of Julius, they finally get there. But least expected things happen, Julius is proved to be a conman. But he is all nice to the two kids. Despite his being a pickpocket,which is indecent, he's a decent man in many other ways. The movie is shot in many locations including Paris, Venice, Verona, those picturesque resorts give the film a visual luster that parallels what I saw in Chasing Liberty that very few of other romances afford to offer. They two eventually get in a gondola and kiss under the bridge of sighs knowing it's just a lie but it's all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The movie ends with their inevitable farewell.
Lauren leaves a profound impression on me being such a considerate and nice girl. Regarding upper-class little girl meeting with poor humble little boy, I'm reminded of another called Great Expectations, adapted from one of Charles Dickens' fictions, starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow which has got fantastic soundtrack just like this one. Except that Estella is icy, and Lauren is down to earth. Every time there's a subtle move performed between the two young lovers, being an admiring look or just several proper words, the music flows in, adding an unspeakable essence to their delicate yet increasingly strong feelings, I like that.
Something about Lauren played by Diane Lane is simply irresistible, her understanding eyes, husky voice and the calm tones in any of the driving-me-mad situation makes her such an adorable and attractive kid. She even appeals to me(me being a girl),I read what's written by some viewers of this movie, very interesting. I'd like to post them as follows:
I saw A Little Romance two more times before it ended its brief run at Teton Cinema there in my hometown of Jackson, Wyoming. I sat in the darkened theater, my blood quickening for those two hours, memorizing Diane Lane’s face while she was on screen. I fell asleep each night with Diane flickering across the back of my eyelids—the long, straight brown hair; those young, wise eyes; that shy way she had of tilting her head toward her collarbone. Time magazine put her on the cover and I framed it for my bedroom wall.
Long before I knew that Roman Holiday romances were never possible, I fantasized about this new Hollywood princess telling her parents she’d like to vacation at the Grand Tetons that summer, and on that vacation they’d come into town for one day, and on that day they’d decide to stop in Jackson Drug for an ice cream sundae, and on that day I’d be sitting on the second stool from the end at that very same lunch counter, and she would take the third stool from the end, and her arm would brush mine, and…
cute little thoughts.
This little romance is really spiritual and pure, nothing to do with the corporal love. It's really a little romance. I especially like their short conversation after running out of the theatre,
Lauren: I used to think, maybe a long time ago, like in the time of the pharaohs, or Louis XIII, that there was somebody made just perfect for me, I mean, when you think about it, and consider that your feelings of love begin when you're about 10, and if you live to,say,70, well, that's pretty limiting because what chance is there that he'll be at the same time as you are?
Daniel: I feel the same thing, I mean, even if she lived in my lifetime, what if my perfect woman lived or California or Brazil? What chance is there that I meet her when I live in La Garenne?
Lauren: It's incredible, isn't it?
Daniel: Absolutely. Incredible.
I remember once being asked what if the one who made perfect for me appears after my marriage. I said teasingly "to divorce my husband." She agreed with "ABSOLUTELY". Considering how slim the chance may be for two walking souls to hear the beckoning of each other, the answer sounds pretty reasonable.
Not to be picky here, but Lauren's flirtatious mother obviously doesn't deserve her agreeable and charming step-father who has been watching her cavorting with the jerk director. Great to see he finally explodes with his never-changing elegance.
I don't know this actor of Laurence Olivier who played Julius, a character with downright French accent who's a foxy conman and has endless fancy stories to tell. From his filmography he seems to be a Shakespearean actor, since he played in Hamlet, King Lear, Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet and Othello. He was also in some of other literature classics adapted films including Dracula, David Copperfield, Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. According to an English playwright Charles C. Bennett, "He could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them".
This film is Diane Lane's film debut, she later developed her career in the film industry while Thelonious Bernard later left movies to become a dentist in real life.
A Little Romance is light-hearted, comical and romantic, it owes a large part to its score. Now their little story ends with a kiss in the street under a tree when the blare of the family car horns, they may really love each other forever. The unfulfilled love is the most romantic.
Lauren leaves a profound impression on me being such a considerate and nice girl. Regarding upper-class little girl meeting with poor humble little boy, I'm reminded of another called Great Expectations, adapted from one of Charles Dickens' fictions, starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow which has got fantastic soundtrack just like this one. Except that Estella is icy, and Lauren is down to earth. Every time there's a subtle move performed between the two young lovers, being an admiring look or just several proper words, the music flows in, adding an unspeakable essence to their delicate yet increasingly strong feelings, I like that.
Something about Lauren played by Diane Lane is simply irresistible, her understanding eyes, husky voice and the calm tones in any of the driving-me-mad situation makes her such an adorable and attractive kid. She even appeals to me(me being a girl),I read what's written by some viewers of this movie, very interesting. I'd like to post them as follows:
I saw A Little Romance two more times before it ended its brief run at Teton Cinema there in my hometown of Jackson, Wyoming. I sat in the darkened theater, my blood quickening for those two hours, memorizing Diane Lane’s face while she was on screen. I fell asleep each night with Diane flickering across the back of my eyelids—the long, straight brown hair; those young, wise eyes; that shy way she had of tilting her head toward her collarbone. Time magazine put her on the cover and I framed it for my bedroom wall.
Long before I knew that Roman Holiday romances were never possible, I fantasized about this new Hollywood princess telling her parents she’d like to vacation at the Grand Tetons that summer, and on that vacation they’d come into town for one day, and on that day they’d decide to stop in Jackson Drug for an ice cream sundae, and on that day I’d be sitting on the second stool from the end at that very same lunch counter, and she would take the third stool from the end, and her arm would brush mine, and…
cute little thoughts.
This little romance is really spiritual and pure, nothing to do with the corporal love. It's really a little romance. I especially like their short conversation after running out of the theatre,
Lauren: I used to think, maybe a long time ago, like in the time of the pharaohs, or Louis XIII, that there was somebody made just perfect for me, I mean, when you think about it, and consider that your feelings of love begin when you're about 10, and if you live to,say,70, well, that's pretty limiting because what chance is there that he'll be at the same time as you are?
Daniel: I feel the same thing, I mean, even if she lived in my lifetime, what if my perfect woman lived or California or Brazil? What chance is there that I meet her when I live in La Garenne?
Lauren: It's incredible, isn't it?
Daniel: Absolutely. Incredible.
I remember once being asked what if the one who made perfect for me appears after my marriage. I said teasingly "to divorce my husband." She agreed with "ABSOLUTELY". Considering how slim the chance may be for two walking souls to hear the beckoning of each other, the answer sounds pretty reasonable.
Not to be picky here, but Lauren's flirtatious mother obviously doesn't deserve her agreeable and charming step-father who has been watching her cavorting with the jerk director. Great to see he finally explodes with his never-changing elegance.
I don't know this actor of Laurence Olivier who played Julius, a character with downright French accent who's a foxy conman and has endless fancy stories to tell. From his filmography he seems to be a Shakespearean actor, since he played in Hamlet, King Lear, Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet and Othello. He was also in some of other literature classics adapted films including Dracula, David Copperfield, Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. According to an English playwright Charles C. Bennett, "He could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them".
This film is Diane Lane's film debut, she later developed her career in the film industry while Thelonious Bernard later left movies to become a dentist in real life.
A Little Romance is light-hearted, comical and romantic, it owes a large part to its score. Now their little story ends with a kiss in the street under a tree when the blare of the family car horns, they may really love each other forever. The unfulfilled love is the most romantic.
George Roy Hill directed the film and he also directed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, so it's always a blast when the theatre plays that movie dubbed into French. You have a lot to look forward to in pursuing Lord Laurence Olivier's career. We've been talking about Rebecca here lately, so you may want to seek that one out. There's another cute in-joke (among many others), and that's the use of Oscar-winner Broderick Crawford playing his irascible self. I think I'll stop for now, but I will say that I highly recommend A Little Romance and give it . The beautiful Oscar-winning musical score is by Georges Delerue. It's a terrific romance and a laugh-out-loud comedy.
thanks guys
