La fleur de l'âge

source: Rapture

Rapture

Magnificent performance by Patricia Gozzi, with the help of Dean Stockwell and Melvyn Douglas. Brilliant directing by John, Guillermin who admits that he never had to direct a more gifted actress (John Guillermin is also responsible for the discovery of Jessica Lange, introduced in King Kong) The film suffered of a black & white (inspired ) cinematography (by French cameraman Marcel Grigon) at a time when distributors would not accept to release a film other than in color,to fight the TV competition (1965). Patricia Gozzi is also great in GRABUGE another ill-starred production of Darry F.Zanuck that was a harbinger to the 68 riot in Paris.

i first saw this film about 7 years ago and i still pop it in every now and then. i seem to be the only person that finds the story to be well formed and moving. a young stockwell plays a charismatic fugitive that becomes involved with a tattered young girl and her estranged father. There is some very simplistic yet beautiful foreshadowing techniques that tie the movie together neatly. overall, i think this a great little flick about the trials of human nature and the way our hearts sometimes take us on journeys we are not prepared to undergo.

I really love old French films... the love stories are always more romantic and poignant.. wonderful acting

I have just tracked down this film, through this site, many years after the one and only time I saw it. I saw it as a B film i.e. tagged on to the main feature but it left such a lasting impression I cannot remember what the main feature was. It was the beginning of the film that made such an impact on me and that I remember most.The idea of a scarecrow coming to life (Joseph in hiding) and Agnes'd reaction which gripped me. The photography was dark and powerful.The developing relationship between Agnes and Joseph and her fathers reaction to it was moving. I do not know what I would make of it now but I hope it would generate the same emotions that I felt as a teenager.

I wish this title was available on dvd...it is only on blue ray. SIGH!

Grossly underappreciated film-warlord, John Guillermin's starkly-ravishing, darkly-dreamlike, 'Rapture' (1965) is one of the more tangibly magical, and exceptionally exquisite coming-of-age dramas in my collection. And if that 'aint enough cinematic meat for your cranial crucible, just watch it for the saucily unkempt, wickedly windswept grooviness of the young terror-scamp, Dean Stockwell, dude!

This is a great film. For some reason this movie really struck a cord with me when I first caught in on tv back when I was a teenager. The lighting, the French location, the novelty [to me] of the film style...I must have watched it a hundred times. Even though I haven't seen it in a few years, I still remember how Agnes is so overwhelmed by everything in her life and seems to like to hide her in childlike world. And Dean Stockwell is actually pretty cute; I was surprised to find out this the same Dean Stockwell that was later on Quantum Leap. My mother told me that he was quite the heartthrob in the Sixties, and one can see why in this film. I also read the book by Phyllis Hasting, and it is a whole lot darker in tone than the film. I think it also explores the father-daughter relationship in more detail than the film. This and some of her other books seem very anti-male.

This is a film that I've seen twice, the last time in 1972, that has stuck with me all these years. Patricia Gozzi was so alluring and the score so haunting and beautiful...I remember waiting for the credits to role to see the name of this unknown actress and the composer. It's the first I'd heard of Georges Delarue and the first of many times I'd heard a mesmerizing score and later seen Delarue's name. I'd love to see this movie again.