In the vein of such coming-of-age classics as Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, Peppermint Soda captures a particular moment in the tumultuous life and development of two young people. Anne (Eléonore Klarwein) and Frederique (Odile Michel) are teenage sisters in 1963 France, torn between divorced parents and struggling with the confines of their strict school. Along the way, they undergo an awakening both political and romantic.
Diane Kurys‘ celebrated film – with cinematography by Oscar winner Philippe Rousselot (Fantastic Beasts)- revels in the comedy and tragedy of the seemingly mundane, weaving a complex tapestry of everyday existence that also touches on the universal. The world cinema classic received a 2K restoration for its 40th-anniversary theatrical re-release in 2018, and Cohen Film Collection is proud to present this striking new restoration for home viewing.
Peppermint Soda was the first film by actress-turned-writer/director Kurys, and instantly established her as a highly personal filmmaker drawing on her own life for cinematic inspiration. It won France’s Prix Louis Delluc, while the U.S. National Board of Review’s 1979 awards honored it as Top Foreign Film. Kurys followed Peppermint Soda with such international hits as Cocktail Molotov, Entre Nous, with Isabelle Huppert, The Children of the Century, with Juliette Binoche, and the new comedy My Mother Is Crazy, starring Truffaut muse Fanny Ardant.
Upon its U.S. theatrical release in 1978, Janet Maslin of The New York Times called Peppermint Soda “an expert, utterly charming movie … handsomely crafted yet also sweet and buoyant in its innocence.” More recently, Guy Lodge of The Guardiansaid, “Diane Kurys’ autobiographical snapshot of French adolescent girls fumbling toward self-possession in the early ’60s hasn’t lost any of its crisp, droll insight or tender, painful empathy.”
Peppermint Soda Blu-Ray-$25.99
Peppermint Soda DVD-$19.99
