Murmur of the Heart (Le Souffle au Coeur) (1971)

Louis Malle’s celebrated 1971 coming of age semi-autobiographical movie, “Murmur of the Heart” is a superbly acted and lovingly told story of a 14-year old’s sexual awakening. I try not to include spoilers in my reviews but cannot find a way to review this movie without mentioning its explosive ending. The ending concerns a mother’s one-time incestual abuse of her 14-year-old son. An abuse that is shown positively as being tender, loving and even liberating for the boy. Only the French could make a movie like this.

Louis Malle, the director, has stated that he used the experience of his own teenage years as the basis for his story. He has also stated that the act of incest with the mother was fictional. In my opinion, his depiction of the event is an attempt to either console himself about a similar occurrence in his own past, or an unrealistic fantasy put to celluloid driven from disturbing thoughts he may have had when growing up.

Unlike Malle’s own teenage life that took place just before and during the Nazi occupation in the late 40’s, the movie is set in 1954, and in the French town of Dijon. 14-year-old Laurent (Benoit Ferreux in an outstanding performance), lives in an upper-class home with his two older brothers, his successful gynecologist father, and his beautiful Italian Mother Clara (The excellent Lea Massari). The boys are basically raised by the stocky and constantly grouchy nanny Augusta, while the cold Father is busy working, and their very affectionate mother is mostly out having extra marital affairs. Augusta has no control over the boys, and Laurent’s brothers enjoy playing pranks on him, with most of these pranks concerning his blooming sexual desires. When Laurent is diagnosed with a slight heart murmur, his mother accompanies him to another town where he begins treatment in a sanatorium. They both stay at a local ritzy hotel, and a technical mistake results in their having to share the same hotel room. It is here that Laurent meets a couple of pretty, teenage girls as well as an older boy who has the hots for his mother. Laurent loves his mother and becomes very possessive of her. It is at this hotel that the movie’s controversial concluding event occurs.

The entire cast of the movie are excellent, while the performances of Ferreux and Massari truly stand out. From acts of masturbation, a hilarious prank with a hooker, and his obtuse responses to his teachers, Ferreux is utterly believable as the still awkward-looking teenage Laurent. His performance reminded me of Jean-Pierre Laud’s Antoine from Truffaut’s, “400 blows” and while watching the movie I felt I was watching a film that was on the same level as Truffaut’s masterpiece. That was until the movie ended and the final message ruined it for me.

Massari is a joy to watch for most of the movie. She oozes with charisma and emotion and is the type of woman whose beauty grows by the minute. For most of the movie, I was delighted whenever her Clara made an appearance. Malle does hint at the unhealthy relationship brewing between Laurent and Clara throughout the film, as it becomes obvious that Laurent’s love for his mother breaks acceptable boundaries. I do believe he is the innocent victim, as Clara enjoys the attention and does nothing to dissuade its growth.

The result of the flirting of temptations within the family can be disastrous and destructive, as I fully expected that was the direction the movie was headed. Instead, when mother and son do indeed have sex together, it is depicted in a tender, almost innocent fashion. It is shown almost as being educational, instilling a mature confidence within Laurent. Clara states afterwards that it will be only a one-time occurrence of sweet love that is kept secret between the two of them. It is as if Malle, who also wrote the screenplay, did not realize the type of mental anguish that can haunt Laurent . throughout his life from the act of incest. Many reviewers have praised that gentleness shown in the act. I am not a prude in any sense, but being French does not make incest less lethal for the innocent. While Laurent is portrayed almost autobiographically and with sensitive care by Malle, there is also a complete lack of awareness of the unhealthy effects that a mother like Clara leaves on a young man. I am not against movies that deal with difficult subjects like incense within families. Murmurs of the Heart is an elegantly told story, containing strong scenes and superb acting. It is this exact facet of the movie that makes it dangerous, justifying a horrible act by portraying it as something it is not.