SPRING BLOSSOM
Young filmmaker Suzanne Lindon emerges as a major cinematic talent with her debut film, in which she stars as a precocious teenager encountering first love with a much older man.
Though 16-year-old Suzanne (writer-director Lindon) lives a comfortable, idyllic life with supportive family and friends, the young Parisian is plagued by a sense of ennui. The things that excite her peers (beer, parties, petty gossip) hold no spark for Suzanne, who prefers to imagine a more thrilling, adult future. Every day Suzanne passes a theater, where a handsome, 30-something actor Raphaël (Arnaud Valois, PFF26’s BPM) catches her eye. Raphaël, too, is at a personal impasse, and views his young admirer as a potential escape from his depressing routine. Before long, the two begin a cautious courtship, and Suzanne must decide whether she’s truly ready to leave her youth behind her. Though SPRING BLOSSOM marks the feature directorial debut of 20-year-old filmmaker Suzanne Lindon, the film bears a startling amount of visual confidence and emotional acuity. Nodding to — yet cleverly subverting — the cinematic lineage of May-December romances, Lindon has delivered a heroine who feels both wide-eyed and refreshingly in control of her own narrative.
CAST: Suzanne Lindon, Arnaud Valois, Florence Viala, Frédéric Pierrot
In Competition: Narrative Feature Award, First Feature Award
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