MovieChat Forums > Un amour de jeunesse (2011) Discussion > A review of Goodbye First Love

A review of Goodbye First Love


http://www.thefilmmann.com/2012/11/review-goodbye-first-love.html

www.TheFilmMann.com

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Very honest review. I also felt a little frustrated with the jumpiness of the editing, the repetition of love making that end abruptly and without passion and the flaky character of Sullivan, who seems as if love is a good idea not something he feels in his bones.

"What matters in life is not whom or what one loves. It is the fact of loving" - Proust

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Glad you enjoyed it. I think you're spot on when it comes to Sullivan - him not being in love, but in love with the idea of being in love.
He's trying hard to recapture something that he probably never felt to begin with, but has grown out of his selective memory.
I found that quite fascinating and relatable, but it sadly faulters in the execution of it.

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OR could it be that they were just both NOTHING more than horny selfish teenagers being jerks???

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I found the "relationship" between Camille and Sullivan to be very believable - at that age, sometimes it's just about sex. No real relationship, no conversation, nothing in common. That's fine when you're 15 and "in love". And Camille's reaction the loss of her first love at 16 was realistic. However, it seemed that afterward she was unable to enter into another relationship for many years - until she started dating her professor. The timing of that wasn't clear (as the timing of events wasn't clarified), but it seemed that that happened quite a number of years after Sullivan's departure - on the order of 6 years? That's a very long time for a teenager to carry a torch and not very believable. And then when she meets up with Sullivan again after 8 years, it's as if nothing has changed. Neither seems to have grown or gained perspective on their past relationship, it was disappointing. I did like the ending, though - I assumed that Camille didn't go after the hat, that she was finally letting the relationship go.
With respect to Creton, I found her portrayal of Camille to be very wooden and self-aware. As the young Camille, that worked ok, as she didn't need to be deep, and her only focus was her infatuation with Sullivan. However, as the character aged, she didn't seem to mature. She found another area of focus, architecture, but it's not clear whether she even loved her professor boyfriend, as she showed no affection toward him, or whether that was just Creton's poor acting skills.
I found this movie something of a disappointment, as it was rated rather highly.

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With respect to Creton, I found her portrayal of Camille to be very wooden and self-aware

I would have to disagree. There was a lot of feeling in Creton's performance during Camille's teenage years and her introspective solitude when we first see Camille as an adult. If I have a problem with Goodbye First Love, its the script. Once Sullivan reenters Camille's life, the narrative becomes tedious and repetitive till the end. Goodbye First Love could have easily been shortened during this period.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

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I agree. Creton has to be one of the most dull emotionless actresses I've even seen. It kept me from truly connecting to her character.

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