Preminger's stylish adaptation of Françoise Sagan's novel. Decadent teenager Cécile lives a carefree life of luxury on the French Riviera with her wealthy playboy father until one of his old flames reappears.
Aesthetically speaking, the late 1950s were Hollywood's absolute golden age. Money poured into the accounts of the major production companies, and most of it was ploughed back into new films. Although most directors used their enormous budgets mainly to tell stories in the traditional way, there were a handful who elegantly managed to break new ground within the studio system. Otto Preminger was one of these, who subtly managed to experiment with original image compositions, elegant camera work and innovative editing, while still making the film palatable to a commercial audience.
In Bonjour Tristesse, based on Françoise Sagan's famous novel, he used the then relatively new Cinemascope format to tell a story that is almost too intimate to be considered a chamber play. At a time when the format was mostly used in grand dramas, here it is used in an intricate and entertaining film about ambitious love affairs and conflict-ridden romances.
Preminger captures Cecile's desperate, secret grief in such a way that one cannot help but feel for her. Jean-Luc Godard saw Seberg's subsequent role in Breathless as a continuation of the role of Cecile.
NB! Cinemateket screenings are advertisement-free, so please arrive on time.
Tickets are sold at Odeon Kino Stavanger
Director: Otto Preminger
USA/United Kingdom, 1958
Starring: Jean Seberg, David Niven, Deborah Kerr
1 hour, 34 minutes
English, without subtitles.
Age limit 12