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Bonjour Tristesse film image; three people in a convertible car with the top down

Bonjour Tristesse

Northern Lights

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Adapting Françoise Sagan’s classic French novel, Durga Chew-Bose gives us Cécile (Lily McInerney), a young lady summering by the sea with her permissive father Raymond (Claes Bang) and his girlfriend Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). It’s a happy trio until Anne (Chloë Sevigny) arrives; soon Raymond’s erotic interest shifts to her. The betrayal upsets Cécile more than it does Elsa, and our young protagonist hatches a plot to coax her father away from his new lover…

Bonjour Tristesse is Chew-Bose’s directorial debut, though you sure wouldn’t guess it from the grace and aplomb she displays. She captures the hazy torpor of summer beautifully, and her feel for pacing fits perfectly with the material. This is a story of a gradual awakening—of small revelations and subtle shifts—and it gets exactly the nuance it needs from its director. Sensuous, literate, and executed with the utmost delicacy, this film marks the arrival of a major talent.

 

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Director
Cast

Lily McInerny, Claes Bang, Chloë Sevigny, Naïlia Harzoune, Aliocha Schneider

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada/Germany

Year

2024

Language

In English and French with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

110 min
Drama Romance Women Directors
Babe Nation Films, Elevation Pictures, Barry Films

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Denis Westhoff, Suzanne Court, Fabien Westerhoff, Emily Kulasa, Jesse Weening, Omar Chalabi

Producer

Katie Bird Nolan, Lindsay Tapscott, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal

Screenwriter

Durga Chew-Bose

Cinematography

Maximilian Pittner

Editor

Amélie Labrèche

Production Design

François Renaud-Labarthe

Original Music

Lesley Barber

Durga Chew-Bose headshot; Bonjour Tristesse director

Durga Chew-Bose

Durga Chew-Bose was born in Montreal. She is the author of Too Much and Not the Mood, a book of essays, and has co-produced the films Shadowboxing (2010) and Mother’s Day (2011). Bonjour Tristesse (2024) is her debut feature.

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