''Presque rien'', also titled ''Almost Nothing'' in the UK and ''Come Undone'' in the US, is a 2000 French-Belgian

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

directed by Sebastien Lifshitz, set in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, depicting a stormy holiday romance between two teenagers and what remains of that relationship eighteen months later.

Plot

Upper-middle class Mathieu, is spending his summer vacation on the French coast before beginning studies in the autumn to become an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. His mother is deeply depressed because of the death of his baby brother from cancer, and is cared for by her sister, while Mathieu and his moody younger sister cannot get along. Then he meets Cédric at the beach, who is attractive and obviously looking for a boyfriend. The boys embark on a romance, and Mathieu's sudden secrecy and long hours away from home invite the curiosity of both his sister and aunt. A parallel plotline focuses on Mathieu eighteen months later, as he recovers from the shock of their separation. After Mathieu has tried to commit suicide, he chooses to go back to the small seaside town to learn how to deal with what happened. The film ends on a hopeful note when Mathieu looks up Pierre, another former boyfriend of Cédric's living in the seaside town, and they overcome past tensions to discover that they understand each other.

Cast

* Jérémie Elkaïm as Mathieu * Stéphane Rideau as Cédric * Dominique Reymond as Mother * Marie Matheron as Annick * Laetitia Legrix as Sarah * Nils Ohlund as Pierre

Production

Rather than having a clear, chronologically ordered narrative, the movie switches between the ''summer'' and the ''winter'' plotlines, depicting the differences in Mathieu's life at both points, as well as establishing the contrast between one and the other visually.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack uses songs by Irish singer and songwriter

Perry Blake Perry Blake (born 10 May 1970) is an Irish singer and songwriter from Sligo, Ireland, known for the delicate, downtempo, melancholic style of his songs and his soft singing voice. Career Blake's 1998 self-titled debut album was successful in the ...

(from his album ''Still Life'') to convey Mathieu's melancholic, depressive mood.

References

External links