Themes: Sexual Awakening, Dysfunctional Families, Sibling Relationships
Main Cast: Lea Massari, Daniel Gélin, Michel Lonsdale, Benoit Ferreux, Marc Wincourt
Release Year: 1971
Country: FR/IT/WG
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
Told with fondness and precision, and set in France at the time of the IndoChina War (which later became an American problem known as the Vietnam War), this controversial feature handles teen coming-of-age, sexuality and even incest with a gentleness that disappointed the prurient and shocked the conservative. This is one of director Louis Malle's finest films: others include The Fire Within and Au Revoir Les Enfants. Laurent (Benoit Ferreux) is 14 years old and anxious to lose his virginity. However, he has a very close family circle, and, between the family and school, he is too closely watched to get anywhere. He makes the most of an opportunity to neck with the girls at his older brothers' party and later almost gets to lose his virginity in a bordello, but his boisterously drunken brothers interrupt him. His real opportunity arises while his mother takes him for a rest-cure for his heart murmur at a very conventional spa. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
Murmur of the Heart is a film of rare grace and easygoing charm; while its content could seem shocking in the hands of other filmmakers, Louis Malle allows us to see it as a fond remembrance of what it's like to be a 15-year-old boy. Laurent, played with perfectly bemused aplomb by Benoit Ferreux, shoplifts jazz records, indulges in his father's wine and cigars when Dad's not around, masturbates, and almost loses his virginity to a prostitute, but Malle never mines this material for shock value. Instead, Laurent is presented as a typical adolescent adrift between childish impulsiveness and adult appetites and responsibilities. While much has been made of Laurent's incestuous contact with his free-spirited mother Clara (played by Lea Massari with a warm and playful sensuality), Clara never acts much like a mother to begin with; considerably younger than her husband, given to flings with other men, and more conspiratorial than disciplinary when she catches her sons stealing money from her purse, Clara behaves more like a friend and confidante than a parental authority. Clara knows that what's happened between her and Laurent is neither appropriate nor healthy, but she also sees it as an act of affection that need not damage either of them for life. This moment is consistent with the rest of film, which is less about a boy who behaves badly and must be punished than about about a person finding his way through the tricky labyrinths of adulthood; if he makes some mistakes, that's to be expected. The superb music of Charlie Parker and Sidney Bechet provides the perfect cues for the movie's tone. Dozens of films have been made about teenage angst, but Murmur of the Heart has more to say about the fun and mysteries along the way to adulthood. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Fabien Ferreux - Thomas; Micheline Bona - Aunt Claudine; René Bouloc - Man at Bastille Day Party; Michel Charrel - Disquaire; Jacqueline Chauveau - Helene; Corinne Kersten - Daphne; Yvon Lec - Father Superior; Ave Ninchi - Augusta; Henri Poirier - Uncle Leonce; Jacques Sereys; Liliane Sorval - Fernande; Gila Von Weitershausen - Freda, the prostitute; Francois Werner - Hubert; Andrzej Zulawski; Huguette Faget - the Mother; Annie Savarin - Cook
Credit
Philippe Turlure - Art Director, Louis Malle - Director, Suzanne Baron - Editor, Henri Renaud - Composer (Music Score), Jean-Jacques Caziot - Production Designer, Ricardo Aronovich - Cinematographer, Vincent Malle - Producer, Claude Nedjar - Producer, Louis Malle - Screenwriter, Sidney Bechet - Featured Music, Charlie "Bird" Parker - Featured Music
Murmur of the Heart (French: Le souffle au cœur) is a 1971French motion picture by French director Louis Malle that tells a coming of age story about a 14-year-old boy who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon, France. At the beginning, the film shows the adventures of the boy in the school and his first sexual experience at a brothel. When the boy is found to have a heart murmur after a bout of scarlet fever, he goes with his mother to a sanatorium, where a series of circumstances lead to a sexual encounter. Jazz music by Charlie Parker, member of the cast, Dizzy Gillespie and books from Bataille, Proust, and Camus features prominently in the film.
