Peppermint Soda [Diabolo Menthe] *** (1977, Eléonore Klarwein, Odile Michel) – Classic Movie Review 11,804

Writer-director Diane Kurys’s French 1977 drama Peppermint Soda [Diabolo Menthe] stars Eléonore Klarwein and Odile Michel, and won the Prix Louis-Delluc.

This autobiographical tale from début director Kurys follows one year in the lives of two Jewish sisters: shy 13-year-old Anne (Klarwein) and precocious Frederique (Michel), two years older, whose parents are separated.

The trials of adolescence receive sharp observation and the two young stars are wonderfully expressive and impressive.

Less convincing is Kurys’s use of the early 60s as a social backdrop (do all coming-of-age films occur in 1963?) and the awkward, generally unsuccessful parallels she draws between the girls’ domestic turbulence and the political changes taking place abroad.

They attend a strict all-girls’ high school, the Lycée Jules-Ferry in Paris, and also live in Paris with their mother Mme Weber (Anouk Ferjac) and spend their awkward summer holidays at the beach with their father M Weber (Michel Puterflam).

Original title: Diabolo Menthe.

Sequel: Cocktail Molotov (1980).

The cast are Eléonore Klarwein as Anne, Odile Michel as Frederique, Anouk Ferjac as Mme Weber, Michel Puterflam as M Weber, Yves Rénier as Philippe, Robert Rimbaud as M Cazeau, Marie Véronique Maurin as Muriel, Corinne Dacla as Pascale, Coralie Clément as Perrine, Valérie Stano as Martine, Jacqueline Doyen as Mlle. Petitbon, Anne Guillard as Sylvie, Véronique Vernon as Evelyne, Tsilla Chelton as Matron, Françoise Bertin as French Teacher, Dominique Lavanant as Maths Teacher, Marthe Villalonga as English Teacher, Dora Doll as Gymnastics Teacher.

The films of Diane Kurys: Peppermint Soda (1977), Cocktail Molotov (1980), Entre Nous (1983), A Man in Love (1987), C’est la vie (1990), Love After Love (1992), À la folie (1994), Children of the Century (1999), I’m Staying! (2003), L’anniversaire (2005), Sagan (2008), For a Woman (2013), Arrête ton cinéma (2016).

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,804

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