A great movie to watch – The Hedhehog (“Le hérisson”)

It‘s a pity that we don’t see that many examples of  le cinema francais in our movie theaters. It’s not like there is nothing to show – I often find francophone movies to be of a greater quality compared to what Hollywood produces. Yes, Hollywood can produce good movies but the ratio of crappy to good movies is way too high.

I watched Le hérisson on my flight to Calgary last week. I am still puzzled as to why Air Canada marked it as comedy – it’s definitely a drama. However, it’s one of those dramas that makes you smile inside despite of all the misfortune happened and I guess that might as well be exactly what the creators wanted to convey to the viewers.

The story follows the life of a very bright 11-year old girl, Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) who is deeply bored by her life and does not look forward to growing up as she sees all the lies, psychological problems,  and irritation people get themselves into the moment they “grow up”. She then decides to commit a suicide on her twelfth birthday to avoid these things happening to her. She is documenting her life and life of people that surround her using an old video camera, sharing her witty and painfully truthful observation with others. As the day of her birthday approaches, she gets acquainted  with a grumpy concierge of her building Renée (Josiane Balasko) and their new neighbour Kakuro (Togo Igawa). In a matter of days the life of these two inspires Paloma to question her pessimistic look on life.

It’s one of those movies that I want to re-watch again and again; in addition to a great story and superb actors’ performance this movie makes me think about my life and why I enjoy living despite all the depressing things daily life brings periodically.