In Jean-Loup Hubert's sentimental memoir a shy nine-year-old Paris boy enjoys a brief vacation in the country while his single mother is away having a baby. Not surprisingly, he learns some valuable lessons about life and love from the trouble-prone tomboy next door, but the film is more about the childless couple who become his surrogate parents, and who engage in an often-bitter rivalry for the boy's affection. The sudden shifts in tone from earthy humor to poignant tragedy make it a lopsided film, with the expected coming-of-age mischief balanced uneasily against moments of surprising cruelty (the drunkard husband abusing his wife). But the end result is less awkward and mawkish than a casual outline would suggest, certainly less than the inevitable, bland American remake ('Paradise', starring Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson). Hubert's style is remarkably attuned to the lazy pace of rural life (with all its reminders of mortality: notice how often the town graveyard appears in the background), and his story is honest and sympathetic, showing a refreshing lack of hindsight exaggeration.
Review of The Grand Highway
