based on a true story based on true story dysfunctional family child kidnapping manipulative adult child friendship
Plot summary
Twenty-year old misfit François earns his living by gathering boxes and bottles to resell to local shopkeepers. He lives with his grossly insensitive mother and stepfather. Mado is a gawky 11-year old, who is neglected by her family because of the oddness of the way she expresses her affection. For reasons which never become clear, François kidnaps Mado, and takes her to live with him in the attic of his parents' home. Instead of feeling fear, Mado enters into the spirit of the abduction, and they joust with one another, increasingly finding love and comfort in their relationship. When the police come upon them, however, they put an entirely different interpretation on their behavior.
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
The French "collector"
Bizarre and elliptical kidnap movie
This story is wrong on so many levels - a French pre-teen is kidnapped by the village idiot (or at least misfit) who literally carts her off in a trailer attached to his moped. (This, after sexually propositioning her mother and being rebuffed.) Oddly enough, she submits to her abduction as if it's all a bit of a lark. Once back at his pad (the attic of a barn, by the looks of it), he installs a primitive surveillance system and warns her not to try and escape. It's all looking pretty dark by this point, and we fear he will turn into some kind of monster. Instead he mellows and even shows her small acts of kindness, emerging as merely a sad loner. The power balance inevitably shifts - a kind of Stockholm syndrome scenario - and by the end of it, she is free. Was she smart and resourceful enough to suss him out and get the better of him, or just feel sorry for him? In any event, she comes out looking a lot cleverer than him.