Peppermint Soda

The 1977 directorial debut of actress turned filmmaker Diane Kurys follows a year in the life of two teenage sisters in 1960s Paris. Anne (Eléonore Klarwein) and Frédérique Weber (Odile Michel) return from summer on the beach in Normandy with their father and begin the year back home with their mother, whose new boyfriend claims much of her time and attention. Anne is an adolescent at an all-girls school where the teachers are tyrannical bullies and misinformation about sex is passed along on the playground as "common knowledge." It’s 1963 and as Anne navigates the onset of puberty, her older sister Frédérique is becoming interested in both boys and politics and she gets into trouble at school for selling peace sign buttons and protesting the Algerian War. Peppermint Soda is an episodic film that is less concerned with big drama than with the details of individual experiences in this time of rebellion and sexual awakening. Much of this is observed through the wide-eyed attention of Anne, who is learning the cues of the mysterious adult world from her mother and older sister. While the details evoke a past era, the emotions and anxieties are timeless and the film remains a touching and sensitive portrait of the difficult teenage years for girls. Extras include interviews with Kurys, Klarwein, and composer Yves Simon, as well as an archival featurette. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)