I think this is our first Belgian film - in fact it even might be our first Belgian anything! I know this exists but that's as far as it goes for me - I'm assuming at least some of it is set in a playground.
Yup - a playground is definitely involved. We basically follow Nora around as she starts school - unsure at first, but slowly gaining confidence and friends as she finds her feet. Unfortunately, her older brother Abel isn't having a great time of it with bullies and Nora's sense of injustice is fired up. But her best efforts to fix things, unsurprisingly, don't have the desired effect. It's all far too believable and at times you do despair, but it does manage to come up with a good ending which doesn't tie things up nicely but does offer some hope.
The film REALLY focuses on Nora so it's going to live or die on Maya Vanderbeque's performance and, as The Guardian says, she is indeed brilliant in this - it would be an impressive performance at any age and she absolutely nails it. Günter Duret is also good as Abel (her brother) in a pretty unflattering role, with him and Maya displaying many aspects of a sibling relationship well. Also worth of a mention are Karim Leklou as her dad (who Wikipedia tells me is named Finnegan for no obvious reason) and Laura Verlinden as Mme Agnes (her teacher) who portray different aspects of adult helplessness - but my major take away was that her dad really should have taught her to tie her laces before she went to school!
The film captures the randomness and unfairness of bullying accurately and the (sometimes unintentional) cruelty of children, but also the innocence and joy of play. It's also absolutely heartbreaking at times - from the perspective of the children, the parents and the teachers because there's obviously no easy answer to these things. And, as The Guardian says, it is indeed a short, intense film - 72 minutes!
The film's direction (Laura Wandel, with her debut) is well thought out with most of the film taking place at Nora's level which is very effective (we either only see the waistline of adults or they have to bend down to join the shot) and the use of sound is also impressive with random school noises contrasting well with some very effective silence or whispers. It's also interesting that French title is "a world" because it really gives you impression that school is Nora's world.
I really liked this film - it's well put together and really pulls at your emotions with a stunning central performance (and there's no absolutely no danger of it outstaying its welcome). So it's a strong recommendation from me - at time of writing it's available to rent in all the usual places.
Yup - a playground is definitely involved. We basically follow Nora around as she starts school - unsure at first, but slowly gaining confidence and friends as she finds her feet. Unfortunately, her older brother Abel isn't having a great time of it with bullies and Nora's sense of injustice is fired up. But her best efforts to fix things, unsurprisingly, don't have the desired effect. It's all far too believable and at times you do despair, but it does manage to come up with a good ending which doesn't tie things up nicely but does offer some hope.
The film REALLY focuses on Nora so it's going to live or die on Maya Vanderbeque's performance and, as The Guardian says, she is indeed brilliant in this - it would be an impressive performance at any age and she absolutely nails it. Günter Duret is also good as Abel (her brother) in a pretty unflattering role, with him and Maya displaying many aspects of a sibling relationship well. Also worth of a mention are Karim Leklou as her dad (who Wikipedia tells me is named Finnegan for no obvious reason) and Laura Verlinden as Mme Agnes (her teacher) who portray different aspects of adult helplessness - but my major take away was that her dad really should have taught her to tie her laces before she went to school!
The film captures the randomness and unfairness of bullying accurately and the (sometimes unintentional) cruelty of children, but also the innocence and joy of play. It's also absolutely heartbreaking at times - from the perspective of the children, the parents and the teachers because there's obviously no easy answer to these things. And, as The Guardian says, it is indeed a short, intense film - 72 minutes!
The film's direction (Laura Wandel, with her debut) is well thought out with most of the film taking place at Nora's level which is very effective (we either only see the waistline of adults or they have to bend down to join the shot) and the use of sound is also impressive with random school noises contrasting well with some very effective silence or whispers. It's also interesting that French title is "a world" because it really gives you impression that school is Nora's world.
I really liked this film - it's well put together and really pulls at your emotions with a stunning central performance (and there's no absolutely no danger of it outstaying its welcome). So it's a strong recommendation from me - at time of writing it's available to rent in all the usual places.