ASA Murmur of the Heart (1971) Director: Louis Malle, Stars: Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux, Daniel Gélin

Murmur of the Heart (1971) Le souffle au coeur (original title) Language: French Italian. Synopsis, Plot This is a jolly comingofage story about a 15yearold boy named Laurent Chevalier who is growing up in bourgeois surroundings in Dijon, France. This is France in the mid1950s rather than America in the 1990s. Thus, Laurent is unharmed by events which would irreparably shatter the selfesteem of a modern American adolescent: he gets drunk, he smokes, he has sex, he is smothered by his mother, he is ignored by his father, a priest makes a pass at him, he gets rheumatoid fever, etc. There s enough scandalous behavior in this film to make 100 madeforTV movies, and yet this is a very happy and oddly innocent tale. Awards 1971: Cannes Film Festival: Nominated for Palme d Or (Best Film) 1972: Nominated for Oscar: Best Original Screenplay