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8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. La fille et le garçon remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a soft spot for the early sound era where everyone is still shouting their lines at a hidden microphone in a flower vase, then yeah, go for it.
People who love vintage musicals or just want to see why Lilian Harvey was such a massive star will find plenty to like here. If you hate thin plots and people bursting into song for no reason, you should probably stay far away. ✋
I sat down to watch La fille et le garçon mostly because I was curious about the Harvey and Garat chemistry. They were like the it-couple of European cinema back then, and you can see why the second they share a frame.
The plot is basically paper-thin and mostly exists to get them into the same room. It is one of those movies where if someone just asked a single follow-up question, the whole conflict would end in five minutes.
Lilian Harvey has this way of moving that feels almost like she is made of springs. She is constantly bouncing around the sets, and it makes everyone else look like they are standing in wet cement.
Henri Garat is charming enough, though his mustache seems to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting in some scenes. He has this weird habit of looking just slightly to the left of the camera when he is supposed to be looking at Lilian. 🤨
There is a scene involving a dinner table where the editing gets really choppy. One second a glass is full, the next it is empty, and then it is full again—it is like a magic trick nobody asked for.
I actually think this movie is a bit more fun than Die Drei um Edith, even if that one feels a bit more polished. This one feels more like the actors were actually having a good time on set.
The music is... fine? It is the kind of stuff that gets stuck in your head but in an annoying way, like a jingle for laundry soap you can't stop humming.
One thing that really stuck out to me was the background actors. In the crowd scenes, half of them look like they are waiting for a bus and have no idea a movie is being filmed right in front of them.
The lighting is also pretty hit-or-miss. In some shots, Lilian looks like a glowing angel, and in the next, the shadows make it look like she is starring in a horror movie.
It reminds me a little of the energy in L'enfant de l'amour, though this is much less serious. Actually, it isn't serious at all.
The script has some jokes that I think were probably hilarious in 1931 but just feel like polite conversation now. I found myself smiling more at the vibes than the actual punchlines.
There is a moment toward the end where the two leads are talking on a balcony and the painted backdrop behind them is so obvious it’s almost endearing. You can practically see the brush strokes on the "sky." 🎨
It is definitely better than Chantage, which I found a bit of a slog to get through. This at least keeps things moving, even if it is moving toward a conclusion you saw coming an hour ago.
Mady Berry and Lucien Baroux show up to provide some comedic support, and they are doing their best with what they got. Baroux has a reaction shot after a song that lasts about four seconds too long, and it becomes accidentally the funniest part of the film.
The whole thing feels like a warm blanket made of celluloid. It’s not going to change your life, and it’s definitely not "fine art," but it’s a nice way to kill some time on a rainy afternoon.
I wish the sound quality was a bit better on the copy I saw. Sometimes the orchestra drowns out the singers, which might be a blessing depending on how you feel about high-pitched 1930s vocals. 🎶
In the end, it’s a movie about pretty people being silly. And honestly? Sometimes that is exactly what you need.
IMDb —
1930
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