There are times when I long for a great new film from France. Gone it seems are the days of Goretta, Chabrol, Truffaut, Malle and Bresson. Sometimes Techine rises to it, but only just. I was reminded a few days ago of what we are missing when I caught up with Mia Hansen-Love's "Goodbye First Love", a film that conveys the ecstasy and pangs of adolescent passion with a delicacy that the French so often manage to achieve with such effortless ease. In short, this could not have come from any other country. I watched the first third which follows the intense relationship of eighteen year old Sullivan and the younger Camille with something of the excitement of rediscovery. Hansen-Love's direction has a fluency and pace that perfectly match the breakneck quality of an affair teetering on the edge of uncertain fulfilment. When Sullivan departs with his mates on a South American backpacking trip Camille is distraught. Her slow recovery and recognition of a different type of love in her relationship with her mature architecture teacher, Lorenz, form the central part of the film. Unfortunately with the absence of a frenetic passion something of the vitality of the first third is lessened and the film becomes an altogether more mundane affair that even Sullivan's return several months later cannot quite rescue from the occasional yawn. What I imagined from the beginning might prove to be a re-run into "La Dentelliere" country ends up as something far less substantial in quality. Today's French cinema, although often still quite distinctive in style, sadly lacks a director of the calibre of those men from the past.

one of the best romance movie I've ever seen. it shows a story of an ordinary girl in Paris that her first love had some effect on her. Cammile believes in her love and always says she can't live without love. she's just a 15-year-old girl when finds her love and wants to keep it forever. but, the boy left him and pursue his happiness without her. throughout the movie, we don't hear much dialogs. but the different scenes talk to us about the life of the main character. Cammile is not kinda girl who mingle with different people or be talkative. you can just find out her feelings from her eyes. this movie is good for whom wants to see the real life of people. you cannot expect happen something thrilling or extraordinary from this movie. it just shows us the truth of life. someone may dislike the movie because of the slow pace of the movie. however, this is the feature of this kinda films. the slow pace lets you think about the feelings of the main character at the mean time. it ends in the best way that you can't anticipate it before. everything was natural and I really enjoyed it.

i love french cinema this is a horrible example, you can take nothing away from it but your lost time, the young couple are attractive the guy is a deadbeat she refuses to accept it, she a architect, very unplausible dialogue makes no sense written on a 12 yo level bright people don't accept abuse or mistreatment more than once i don't care how big there parts are there money or there looks, the people that do either want abuse or are not too bright i guess french cinema is dumbing down now, this is been made by someone who did not listen in class, there reason i like movies from France is they don't fob off a load of crap like this. this is for the french people that thought jerry lewis was funny

Being a fan of French cinema, Goodbye first love was a terrible disappointment. I had to witness some very abrupt cuts throughout the movie. The characteristic of female protagonist gets monotonous within just the first twenty minutes of watching which then continues for another 85 minutes. The movie lacked continuity throughout. The story which could have otherwise been presented beautifully has been treated awfully and looked more or less like a student's work which is yet to be reviewed and scrutinized by the professor. The story although based on a very common subject and not so different from many others that I've watched, lacked necessary details. There are sudden appearances and disappearances of characters(existing and new) without any necessary introduction or reason. I'm surprised as to how the producer managed to find the distributors. Not worth your time.