1963. Anne is in 7th grade or so. Her sister Frédérique is in 9th grade or so. They go to the same school. 'Diabolo menthe' is a nicely observant and fast-paced series of vignettes about their life, especially their school life. The film is the definition of slice of life.
We get to see the differences between the lives of the two sisters, and their commonalities. Anne often is in a hurry to grow up, to catch up with her big sister. She wants as much pocket money as her, is happy when she gets her first period after which she immediately demands to join her sister when she goes to the dance club, she steals (or tries to), she plays a prank on Frédérique, she goes to a café after school for the first time but has to go home when Frédérique sees her there, she runs away from a guy on the street who's wearing a coat (presumingly because she thinks he is a flasher, or maybe he really did flash her before), etc. She has a classmate who knows all the things grown-ups now, like about sex and white slavery and such. Of course most of it is utter nonsense, but the other children believe her anyway. Every little thing that happens in her life feels like a tragedy, everything seems so terribly important, in school and out of school.
For Frédérique, although a mere two years older, things look quite different. She has become politically active even though politics are forbidden in school. She becomes estranged with her friend in class over political matters and becomes friends with a different girl. She goes camping alone with a boy but grows annoyed of him and drives back home when she hears that a classmate of hers suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. She and the father of the girl who disappeared end up kissing. Etc.
What they have in common is that they have to deal with teachers and parents. The teachers all have the typical quirks and shortcomings. They dish out unjust punishments because they don't even want to understand the children, they struggle with their own insecurities more than they struggle with the children, and so on. Just your average screwed up teachers mistreating children, but you as a child couldn't tell anybody about it, because who would care? A teacher would have to rape you in front of the class before somebody cares, which - spoiler alert - isn't something that happens in this film. Of course the children are devils too if you let them, and a teacher who isn't respected by the children has to go through hell when all the children in a class behave like maniacs as soon as you are alone with them.
'Diabolo menthe' isn't an overt period piece. There are references to the Kennedy assassination and to Alain Resnais' "Muriel" (because one classmate amusingly sports that same name) but overall this could pretty much take place today. Presumingly it's set in 1963 simply because writer/director Diane Kurys was around the protagonists' age at that time. This also isn't a denunciation of the education system like 'Mädchen in Uniform' or anything, it's just about the everyday life insanity. They are all real people and the dialogues are simple, very true to life. It's all very unassuming. Very relatable. Very enjoyable.
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