As usual, considering that Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse is based on Francoise Sagan’s novel of the same name, I can’t comment on how faithful this movie is to its source material. However, considering how unsatisfied I was by the end credits, I did some research to understand the film’s relation to the novel. Suddenly, the stars aligned and I figured out the root of my agitation.

Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse was published in 1954, predating the French New Wave film movement that would emerge later that decade. What Chew-Bose attempts to do, with her feature filmmaking debut, is tie the stylistic aesthetics of this movement to her version of the novel. The jury may be out on how true of an adaptation this is to Sagan’s work, but I know when the weight of an homage is being pushed towards me. I like and admire the French New Wave films I’ve seen, but I found Chew-Bose’s appreciation of this era to be suffocating and drawn out.

Instead of mimicking this style of filmmaking, the writer/director should’ve paid more attention to the atmosphere that could’ve provided a free-forming experience for the audience. As a movie that takes place during a sun-bleached summer, featuring a family who’s comfy dynamic gets thrown off by a visitor from the past, there’s more potential to be mined for from the feelings and reactions of the characters. The blunders in this movie made me appreciate the vibe-heavy flightiness of the Mediterranean fairy tale Parthenope even more.

Much like last year’s bizarrely popular La Chimera, Bonjour Tristesse spreads its focus too thin to meet its own exhausting ambition.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie