I, Caesar

Ten year old Cesar Petit (Jules Sitruk) is 4'6" tall and 10lbs overweight, more interested in eating sweets than the activities – piano, karate etc – his parents (Jean-Philippe Écoffey and Maria de Medeiros – the latter sadly underused) foist upon him. He's smart enough to know the value of playing dumb, careful to do well enough to avoid annoying his parents but not so well as to attract unwanted attentions from the other kids. And he's just starting to discover girls like Sarah (Joséphine Berry – the director's daughter) and growing a touch envious of his friend Morgan (Mabo Kouyate) for being so damned attractive, athletic and, well, grown-up.

When Cesar's father's business partner dies, his dad is left to explain some financial irregularities. After the police turn up and Mr Petit vanishes, Cesar concocts a story that his dad is in jail, instantly gaining the approval of his classmates. Then Mr Petit appears at the school…

After the fallout from this incident has ended, a school parent/child excursion to the sewage treatment works (funnily enough, I went on something similar as a seven or eight year old) leads to the suggestion that Morgan ought to find his father, a Londoner named Charley Fitzgerald who he has never met. With Sarah volunteering to help Morgan because her English/French parents have brought her up to be bilingual, Cesar decides to go along to help and hopefully impress his love. Needless to say, none of the kids informs their parents…

Early on in I, Caesar, the young hero explains how his name was chosen as a compromise, his parents favouring different ancient personages but unable to otherwise agree. It's a throwaway line that nevertheless becomes emblematic for the whole film, with director Richard Berry seemingly unable to decide whether he is making a childrens film or a film starring children but intended for an older audience.

For the first half we see things more or less through Cesar's eyes, with an accompanying voice over. Sometimes displaying insight and sagacity beyond his years like the young Woody Allen in Radio Days (Cesar is also Jewish, though Eric Assous's writing lacks the distinctively Jewish humour of Allen) Cesar's perceptions are elsewhere firmly those of a child. Fart gags sitting alongside reflections on the semiotics of "mistress" when spoken by children in relation to their teacher and by adults, while one-liners like "after childhood comes adultery" get a whole class of ten-year-olds laughing rather than raising at least some puzzled expressions.

Worse, this schism becomes more apparent after the three children depart for London. Cesar's voice-over takes a backseat role and the adventure skirts perilously close to Children's Film Foundation territory with a spot of danger and a somewhat fantastical/improbable happy-ever-after type resolution.

Yet, even if it is certainly no 400 Blows I, Caesar is a reasonably well directed and acted piece that manages to raise a smile.