Maman is briefly at the hairdresser - DVD

Film: French Canadian director Léa Pool ("Lost and Delirious") has created a wonderful film with "Maman is briefly at the hairdresser", which has now made it to Germany as a DVD premiere. The film is set in a picturesque suburb of Québec in the summer of 1966: the three siblings Élise (Marianne Fortier), Coco (Élie Dupuis) and Benoît (Hugo St-Onge-Paqun) actually lead a picture-perfect life here. But when their mother (Céline Bonnier) learns that her husband (Laurent Lucas) is having an affair with his golf partner, and subsequently packs her bags and flees to London, the idyll falls apart. While the father is completely overwhelmed with his new role as a single parent, 15-year-old Élise tries to take responsibility for her little brothers as best she can, especially as little Benoît seems to be suffering from his maman's departure. Sensitized by the events, Élise notices that the other families around her are also struggling with various problems. And suddenly the world looks very different...

With a sensitive hand, Léa Pool actually tells a very sad story in "Maman is briefly at the hairdresser", but one that always makes you smile while filling the audience's hearts with lots of wonderful feelings. The view of a childhood that threatens to break up because of the separation of the parents, but then in some moments the childlike lightheartedness can triumph over the sadness, is just magically realized. Pool has captured small moments that almost everyone knows from their own childhood, authentically and completely free of kitsch and clichés. That she has succeeded so well is almost certainly due in the first place to the near-perfect choice of child actors, both the three main characters and the numerous supporting ones.

The children in the film don't seem like they are playing children from the 60s, they seem like they are children from the 60s. What especially Marianne Fortier, but also little Hugo St-Onge-Paqun express with their subtle facial expressions alone is just great. For example, when Benoît looks dreamily at his soap bubbles and then gives his father a sincere, happy smile that slowly freezes, or when Élise has to fear in a children's hospital that something is wrong with her little brother, then these children deliver acting on a very high level.

Because the dramatic moments are interspersed with many small beautiful moments, like the first kiss or a dance by the lake, the film never feels overly heavy. Rather, despite the rather sad subject matter, it radiates an enormous lightness due to its warm imagery and beautiful soundtrack, which, coupled with a touch of nostalgia, quickly transfers to the viewer, who is only too happy to get lost in the story.

So in the end, "Maman is briefly at the hairdresser" can convince with an almost perfect mix of drama and humor, with great actors, beautiful images, an atmospheric soundtrack and a sensitive story. If you want to experience once again what it feels like when a film touches your heart, you should definitely check out this DVD. Absolutely recommended!

Picture + Sound: The picture transports the viewer right back into the 60s with its warm, very harmonious color scheme. Overall sharpness could be a bit better, but overall the clean image is quite satisfying. The sound is mixed rather restrained and is dominated by atmospheric ambient sounds, the wonderful soundtrack and the dialogues. Perfectly appropriate and satisfying for this film. Good!

Extras: Except for the trailer and some program tips, the DVD unfortunately has no other bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: "Maman is briefly at the hairdresser" is an enchanting little film that completely unobtrusively creates quite big feelings. The DVD can convince technically and disappoints only by missing bonus material. Since the main film but is so beautiful, this can be quite forgiven and should not keep anyone from buying the DVD!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp