Search - We Need a Vacation on DVD

A Must See!

M. Hencke | New York, NY United States | 07/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A profoundly poignant and thought provoking French coming of age drama about two young youths desperately in need of time away from their poverty stricken homes. The performances by the two males leads are unforgettable and the writing and direction is top notch. The score for the film (particularly its theme song) is quite a effective as is also the cinematography."

A Completely Delightful and Tender Little Film About Disenfr

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 01/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'Fais-moi des vacances' (WE NEED A VACATION) is a finely wrought little film that studies the disparities between the classes in France while introducing us to a warmly tender and humorous friendship between two young lads. Directed and written by Didier Bivel (with writing assistance from Djamila Djabri) it offers a slice of life we rarely see - that underbelly of France's projects where mixed races strive to exist without the amenities of those with means who surround their neighborhoods.

Lucien (Aymen Saïdi) lives with his father (Bernard Blancan), mother (Hiam Abbass), young sister Pamela (Laura Mas Navarro), and his tough streetwise older brother José (Nabil El Bouhairi) in a small flat. Close by is his African friend Adama (Ibrahim Koma) and his equally poor family of father (Makan Fofana), mother (Marie-Philomène Nga) and sister Fanta (Hawa Yakaré Sissoko). As school ends the kids whose families have money take them on a vacation, a state neither Lucien nor Adama can afford despite their obsession with that luxury. The two boys manipulate funds and ideas and ultimately come up with the idea of secretly jumping aboard a RUV of a family headed for the beach. BUT despite the success of their plan and the encouragement of the daughter of the van's owners, the boys end up not at the beach but at a nudist camp, a fact that makes them flee! Upon returning home both boys' families punish their activities and when Lucien seeks comfort from his older brother, José beats him and tells him to grow up. In the end the boys finagle their way to the beach, but of course by this time vacation time is over and they are on an empty beach re-evaluating their lives.

The cast is uniformly strong, the writing is excellent, and the camera work not only captures the claustrophobia of the projects but also opens up the vistas of the boys' imaginations. It is a fine little film, one deserving of a wide audience. Grady Harp, January 07
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A dissapointment...to say the least...

Pierre de Courcy | Montreal,Canada | 03/29/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, the picture shown here is not at all the one you will see
on the dvd; secondly, I find it profoundly disturbing that amazon com would even suggest, among it's "relevant" tags, descriptions such as "gay, full frontal nudity, boys nude", well..see for yourself; I wouldn't have ordered it if I would have read these false tags; there is no gay subject matter, no unnecessary nudity, none of those titillating adjectives amazon uses to attract what one may wonder: weirdoes?

Getting back to the movie, it is well made, well photographed, well acted for sure but again, I find it very strange that such praise is written in the sense of "heartwarming, refreshing".

It is nothing of the sort; two little boys are bored; it's summer and they cant afford to go to camp like their friends; so they stay home,
nothing much to do, nothing much to say;(been there, done that, like most kids); one of the boys is brutally beaten by his older "thug" brother, a very disturbing scene; I dont care for that fake "cinéma vérité"; I wont tell you how the movie ends, not to kill your buzz but it's not a happy ending, typical of the french who take the long road around to say absolutely nothing new or significant, most of the time. I'm being harsh, I know, but I've had my fill of cinematic nonsense.

If you like that old style mock "cinéma d'auteur", by all means, waste your money. But if you expect, like Le Figaro says (I cant imagine why)
that it is "refreshing and heartwarming", well, if you like to see sad kids and empty lives colored with gratuitous violence,well... I guess to each his own.

I would rather highly recommend "You are not Alone" and "Les Aiguilles Rouges" in the french repertoire; the first is a dutch film that was way ahead of it's time (and still is) and deals with taboo subject matter in a tastefull way, as seen from the young teenagers of the flower power era; a True Masterpiece; and "Les Aiguilles Rouges" is a true story of boy scouts who, neglected by their adult leaders, are left to fend for themselves, often in peril for their lives (but they make it safely back to camp); the psychological underlayers and confrontations between different types of personalities make it a very interesting character study; not a dull moment in a movie that has many well placed silences that speak louder than words and bring you back to your own childhood and
questionings and balance between friendship, confrontation, fear, self doubt and mostly, a certain natural courage that overcomes the obstacles thrown their way.

Sorry but "We need a vacation" has been done ad nauseam and this one deserves to be forgotten."