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Poil de Carotte

Play trailer Poster for Poil de Carotte 1932 1h 30m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 92% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A 10-year-old boy known as Red Head (Robert Lynen) finds himself as an outsider in his own family. His father, Monsieur Lepic (Harry Baur), has withdrawn into sports and ignores the boy completely, while his mother (Catherine Fontenay) dotes on his much older siblings, spoiling them to the extreme. Frustrated by having the young boy underfoot, his mother orders him to wait on them along with the family servants, but Red Head finds solace in his imaginary wanderings.

Critics Reviews

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Dennis Harvey 48 Hills Its redheaded boy hero remains irrepressible despite the myriad cruelties visited upon him in a Dickensian childhood. Apr 17, 2024 Full Review Paul Rotha Cinema Quarterly It has much which gives pleasure and much which is ridiculous; an odd mixture of the vices and virtues of cinema. Feb 4, 2021 Full Review Pare Lorentz Vanity Fair As with most foreign pictures, the story is unusual and the cast phenomenal. May 16, 2019 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand "A family is a group of people forced to live together under one roof who can't stand each other." Jul 1, 2017 Full Review Dan Callahan House Next Door Duvivier's Poil de carotte (1932, Carrot Top in English) is one of the most touching films about unhappy childhood that I've ever seen. Feb 23, 2011 Full Review Film4 Staff Film4 Duvivier's poetic touch produces a gentle film about a young boy who can't seem to do right but who learns to be proud of his own identity as he tries to turn his special situation to his own advantage. May 24, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member I was completely floored by this masterpiece from Julien Duvivier. I didn't know a lot about the film prior to watching it aside from the fact that it was based on a book and from the director of "Pepe le Moko" which I have seen. I have a film book with an image from this movie, with the young boy holding a noose and about to hang himself, this image always intrigues me, I wanted to know what his story was and why he wanted to hang himself, it took me over a decade, but I am glad I finally tracked this film down and watched it. The direction is excellent and is in the French poetic realism style, which I tend to love. The boy, played by Robert Lynen, gives a tremendous performance as does the father played by Harry Baur. I give this one my highest recommendation! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Disturbing, poignant, a classic. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Very sad film about a boy nicknamed "Poil de Carotte" who doesn't seem to have anyone who will love him. His mother hates him and his father doesn't seem to notice him. So as the film progresses he comtemplates suicide. The young actor did an excellent job as the title character. The final 30 minutes or so are excellent, especially in the barn. The only problem with the film is that the copy I had was an old VHS tape that had bad white subtitles and only about half of the dialogue was actually translated. But the story was easy enough to follow. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Gut-wrenching! A young boy suffers from neglect and abuse as his "father" ignores him and his mother torments him for being the product of her affair. Naturalistic scenes contrast with fantasy sequences, including one where farm animals bursting into song. During the whole film, I anxiously wondered how it would resolve. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Poil de Carotte

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Poil de Carotte

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Movie Info

Synopsis A 10-year-old boy known as Red Head (Robert Lynen) finds himself as an outsider in his own family. His father, Monsieur Lepic (Harry Baur), has withdrawn into sports and ignores the boy completely, while his mother (Catherine Fontenay) dotes on his much older siblings, spoiling them to the extreme. Frustrated by having the young boy underfoot, his mother orders him to wait on them along with the family servants, but Red Head finds solace in his imaginary wanderings.
Director
Julien Duvivier
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 24, 2009
Runtime
1h 30m