Avril

Just returned from seeing this as part of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts' tremendous yearly French Film Festival. Again, I feel so lucky to live in Boston. This was , for me, one of those rare films that really got me. It imbued me with a feeling much like that that I experienced while seeing Kurosawa's 'Dersu Uzala.'The completely believable lead actress, a novice nun raised in a convent from birth, is so filled with the glow of selfless love, that that glow spread to all around her in the film, and then out to me in the audience.

The screenplay is perfect, with a naturalness in allowing the characters to just be and look and feel. Editing is super; every shot and scene is meaningful. Dialogue too is natural, unrushed, unpretentious. The lead character grows before you over a 2 week period in a completely believable way, as she awakens to the greater world beyond the convent.I also loved all the male characters with their goodness.Very refreshing, given the portrayal of men in much of cinema today.The camaraderie and love they all shared with Avril was most heartening and I felt really fortunate to have been part of it.

I am so looking forward to this new director's next work.