MovieChat Forums > Ponette (1997) Discussion > the girl seems abused to me...

the girl seems abused to me...

posted 20 years ago by trinitysx
17 replies | jump to latest

have you noticed that the little girls cries almost the entire movie? and when she's not crying she just looks so sad. that's just not normal in a 4 year old.

i know what you're thinking, she's a gifted young actress... come on.. she was 4 years old! no 4 year old can cry when they're told to, all of that crying had to be real. and in my opinion to put a little girl crying like that (they had to put her crying everyday of shooting) is just not right!

and also i think is not right to put a little girl saying "i want to die".. i bet after doing this movie she had to go through some kind of therapy. for example, the girl in "the exorcist" was older and after doing that movie developed serious psycological problems!

and there are 2 scenes that shows the kids being mistreated.. one is when the girl is in the thrash thing, you can see that she doesn't want to be in there, you can see that crying is real. and also when she and the other girl put the boy in there you can see that she hurts her hand and starts crying! the other scene is where all the kids are making fun of the little boy, and he is getting really angry and you see him almost breaking into real tears..

they should have gotten older actors, or at least make the things a little softer.. everyone can see that all the kids, especially the girl, are not enjoying themselfs doing that, and when you're 4 years old everything's gotta be about having fun!

[–] Tief 20 years ago

I think you just did not get anything of the movie, I'm afraid...
This movie just shows things as they are actually, not as we - as adults - would like to see them. You sound like being someone who thinks kids are not intelligent. I can tell you you're wrong.

By the way, everything possible was done on the set to get sure the kids were alright. Moreover, the whole script was made according to what kids said about death. And Victoire, the leading actress, kept a wonderful memory of the set, as you can see it in the recent interview (on the French Ponette DVD) she had with Doillon, eight years later. She never identified to her character, and she REALLY is a gifted actress.

You said that the kids were crying all the time, but look closer at the movie : they are not crying that much. And if you want to know more about the technics used, Victoire would ask Jacques (Doillon) to yell at her, "but not too much, for [she] would not be too scared" (that's her own words, translated).

Just ask yourself what Cinema is : things you make look like something, not things as they are... Victoire's favorite scene in the movie, is when she was in the cemetary, calling for her mom and trying to get her out of the ground... About the trash things, the kids were not afraid with it, since the director would get the kids all around the set pushing this trash thing where the kids were... good memory for them ! So please try and get more notes about things and people before you judge them... And never get to call Victoire, 'Ponette', she never accepted to be called like that, even when she was 4 !

Anyway, I saw the English version of Ponette - I'm French. And I can tell you that the strength of the french dialogues cannot be translated in English - question of vocabulary. I wish you were a French speaker so that you could get the deep meaning of the whole movie. This is just an ode to life, and kids are the best to show us the way on this path...

Damien from France

[–] trinitysx 20 years ago

i just wanted to clarify a few things...
first of all, that is just my opinion. i respect yours, of course, i understand your point of view.
and I speak french rahter fluently and i saw the french version! and in my pont of view, the girl cried a lot in the movie! and the trash can scene, i watched it over and over! the girl was crying because she didn't want to be in there and she hurts her hand, all my friends agree with this!
so, it's my opinion! don't think that your point of view is the only one in the world ok?

i loved the movie, it just made me feel sorry for the girl!

[–] lenoresalive 20 years ago

I think throwing about accusations of abuse is very dangerous.

Why can this four year old girl not be a very talented young actress. It is hard to believe that she can act so well, the calibre is amazing, but I cannot count the number of times I have seen children crying "crocodile" tears and to others they could be believeable, though the carer/parent knows different.

With regards to the scenes where the children are mistreated, I remember correctly that the actress did most definately cry for real when she hurt her hand, but this is not mistreatment, it was an accident. Accidents happen. There are many scenes that take place in other films, which are accidents and are kept in the actual film.

"At 4 years old everythings gotta be about having fun", what does that mean? Does every 4 year old you know of have fun constantly? If you told a four year old to imagine if her mummy disappeared, I dont think it would be too hard to for the four year old to realise that this would make them cry and that they would miss her and wish to be with her.

This was an opportunity for this girl to do something different and begin her career in film. She doesnt look particularly disturbed in chocolat though she does have an imaginary kangaroo.......

[–] quasaglimoth2 19 years ago

some kids are exceptional actors...they have a natural talent for it. when you combine this with parents money for proper training in a school for kid actors or private tutors,what you get is amazing.

crying is the quickest emotion and stress reliever for kids,so doing sad scenes would seem to be easier for the child to do,dont you think?

as for kids intelligence,well,there are two year olds that have memorized large sections of american history,such as the list of the presidents. when you have a bright child who the parents actually spend time with,its amazing what can happen.

give the kids some credit....

[–] nubbytubbybiatchesgalore 18 years ago

the translation was fine. can you point to any specfic line or word. je croyais pas.

[–] HoshinoWaguma21 18 years ago

It's not the adults fault the kid hurt her hand, What freaked me out was the major child porn in the film. I saw this movie when I was just a kid myself & loved it. It was my fav movie but when I watch it now i'm like ew! why do they keep kissing the kids on the lips like that?! & the scene mathis & ponnete always kiss or touch her freaked me out. Maybe it is just how french people are but it was weird to me.

[–] sekhmet622 17 years ago

There was no deep kissing in the film at all! Unless for some odd reason you consider a quick kiss on the lips as deep kissing. It is natural for parents to kiss their children like that. As for the children together, it is a normal thing. Humans are very tactile creatures and at such a young age they do it naturally since they haven't developed as many personal space issues. Also because there is no sexuality involved they can do it as a comfort thing. I agree that if these kids were 10 years older it might seem as if it was a lot, but at not such a young age! Calling it child porn is ridiculous.

[–] daddylonglegs29 17 years ago

I recently watched this movie in my French class and during the scenes with Ponette and her cousin, or her father, some of my frineds asked my teacher about the kissing. My teacher responded that the French are simply more "touchy- feely" (as she put it) than Americans are. I dont know if you are American or not....but that helped my class realize that that's just how they interact with eachother. It may be odd to us, but we are different cultures.

[–] keef71 17 years ago

hoshino - in many european cultures everyone, even men! , hug and kiss each other as a sign of friendship and greeting each other - doesn't mean they're gay or being dirty - more a mutual respect and friendship

ok, it's different to what you're used to, but that doesn't make it 'WRONG'

as for the initial post - i'm sorry, but give the film-makers some credit! what did you think they were doing? poking her with a jaggy stick? :rollseyes:
considering if a film even slightly features some animal or other, they have to have multiple disclaimers that the were not harmed in any way, do you honestly think they would even attempt emotions of this magnitude without thinking of he child first????

by the way i first saw this film by accident on tv and was smitten from the start. ponette is so sweet, but not sickly so, totally natural, and as the story unravels, i just was in bits. the story just trundles along, but he characters and the humanity going on are just so powerful!

[–] pizza_cheese 17 years ago

What freaked me out was the major child porn in the film

May I suggest you take an eye test? Or should I suggest you buy a dictionary instead? Obviously you don't know what "porn" is.

As sekhmet622 had said, calling this movie child porn is ridiculous. Actually, it's beyond ridiculous.

[–] hooper-xxx 16 years ago

That's because you are an adult with a lot of weird hang-ups. French people do kiss more than, let's say, Americans. But, even in the case of American little kids, nothing that transpired in that movie would be out of the ordinary. I can't imagine that you have children yet. Otherwise, this wouldn't even seem noteworthy.

Edit: I just noticed that you have a Japanese-sounding name. If you are Japanese, then it's no wonder that all of the hugging seems odd to you. However, I might add that the Japanese aversion to such displays of affection seem just as bizarre to others.

[–] hppg 17 years ago

I sort of agree with you. Victoire was obviously bright and a fantastic actress and I'm sure she's not traumatised, but if must have affected her some day. I don't think it's quite right to make a kid identify with such sadness for so long, I mean it could be technically right, but there's just a gut feeling that there's something a little bit off about doing that.

[–] hooper-xxx 16 years ago

You're an idiot. It's called acting. Little kids act out little scenes all of the time whilst playing.

[–] krocheav 10 years ago

...I wouldn't be so quick at calling others idiots, it has a tendency to make you look like one. The original comment was quite credible and everyone has a right to their opinion. Were you on the set of this movie while it was being made??

Prolific film makers can be pretty selfish when they have an idea, and want to turn it into a possible award winner! The children were all very young, and intense depictions of death (as this undeniably was) have always haunted kids (I remember my own fear at that age) This film is an astonishing feat, and worthy of the awards (especially the cinematography) But heavy in its tragedy it certainly is. Some of those tears had to be induced, regardless of what you may think.
It takes all kinds to make the world turn.

[–] iKkUnApRiNcEsSa 16 years ago

even young actors understand that they are, indeed, just acting. in the moving Meet Me in St. Louis they had to get the young actor in there to cry (she was about 4 as well) and behind the scenes they told her that if she didnt cry they would kill her dog, which got her to cry. its not a cruel way to mistreat children, they know theyre in a movie and playing a role and its not real; some children really are just wonderful criers. im not even sure a 4 year old has the capacity to use real life experiences for a role. but i guess ya never know. hmmmm

[–] tomfern 12 years ago

You have a couple of things mixed up here...Margaret O'Brien was the actress in Meet Me in ST. Louis who could cry at the drop of a hat..she cried in nearly every movie she made. During an interview later in life, she addressed that particular talent of hers, saying she once asked her director how much she should cry..did he want the tears to fall to her chin, or should she stop them midway down her cheek. She proceeded to demonstrate. The story about the killing of the dog threat was made to Jackie Cooper during one of is earliest films.
We often don't give children enough credit as far as their intuitive communication skills are concerned. I taught my own son, at age 3 1/2 to recite Puck's ending soliloquy from A Midsummer Night's Dream..and he nailed it perfectly, every time..effectively flinging himself to the ground as he whined "That you have but sluuuuuummmmmmberrrredd here...while dese bisions DID appear..." And he was by no stretch of the imagination acting material!( just a little awkward with his pronunciations.) :)

[–] LaOvet 8 years ago

She is not abused, she was a phenomenal child actress, one in a thousand. Literally.

"One moment Thivisol is romping playfully on the set, less than a minute later she is highly concentrated and embodies very convincingly the role of the girl who has to learn to cope with the recent death of her mother, while she doesn’t understand the concept of death."

There is a documentary about the making of the film with the actress.
https://iffr.com/en/2012/films/jouer-ponette