Watch A Nos Amours

A Nos Amours, French for to our loves, is a 1983 film about a Parisian teen girl trying to cope with her chaotic life. Suzanne, who is 15, is very sexually active, just for the fun of it. Her family does not understand her. Then two events turn her life upside down. She sleeps with an American, and this causes her boyfriend, Luc, to leave her. The other event is that her gruff but beloved father leaves the family for another woman. At this, her mother becomes neurotic, trying to not let her jealousy consume her. Suzanne’s brother, Robert, starts beating her as punishments. It is a coming-of-age tale of innocence becoming femme fatale. The movie was co-written by Maurice Pialat and Arlette Langmann in a way to show both male and female perspectives. Pialat also directed and played the father. Gaumont Film had a hand in the production. The movie was well received. Sandrine Bonnaire, who plays Suzanne, in her first real movie role, won a Cesar for Most Promising Actress for the movie. The film itself won a Cesar for Best Picture. Pialat won a Pix Louis Delluc for his part in making the movie. Suzanne goes through the movie seeking men, maybe needing them, but not finding love, perhaps not needing to. Her father is torn deeply that his beautiful daughter is no longer vulnerable and needing her father. Her mother, played by Evelyne Ker, is torn in the movie. The family apartment isn’t just home, but also a fur workshop run by both parents. Because of the father leaving and Suzanne’s promiscuity, the mother starts to lose control of her emotions. Robert, played by Dominique Besnehard, and Suzanne have an odd relationship. It is both tender and violent, while being almost incestuous at times. In the end, Suzanne escapes all this.