Rating: 
Summary: Thivisol is indeed "a child of God"....
Review: I can't tell you how long I've waited to get my hands on this movie. After trying to order it twice and asking many times in the video store, I finally got it as a rental. How refreshing it is to see how far a child's perspective and emotions can carry a film. After seeing so many enormous reviews for this movie, I had huge expectations. I was not disappointed. It has an amazing way of taking a simple enough storyline, adding a whole lot of emotion and various characters with their own beliefs, and creating an incredible film that speaks directly where it needs to speak. "Ponette" has the immensely talented Victoire Thivisol carrying on the title role in the story of a four-year-old little girl. Traumatized after living through a car crash that killed her mother, Ponette is sadly forced to undergo more human pain and suffering than any child her age--or any grown human being, for that matter--normally should go through. Her emotions are thoroughly misunderstood by her estranged father and the other people in her life. While she is worlds apart from her cousins, her peers, and her entire family, she immediately clings to the idea that she can communicate with her mother and see her again. But with everyone around her giving her different viewpoints and various outlooks on God, it is often much more than this little girl can handle herself. Only through a very strong and important vision can Ponette finally discover a sense of peace and understanding and, most importantly, be able to go on living her young life. Victoire Thivisol.......WOW! what is there to say about this tremendous little actress that has not already been said? She is absolutely incredible. This is not just a young actress--this is a four-year-old child kicking off her acting career with an extremely complex, emotional, and STARRING role. To get a child this young to do the kind of things that the script called the character to do is just unbelievable. After pulling off this kind of challenging role with such a natural and passionate ability, I'd have a hard time believing that there's any type of acting that Thivisol can't handle. As stated in the film, she is a true "child of God" with tremendous potential in the acting business. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to work with her after seeing her performance in such a hardcore, moving role. With this being said, I have to warn you that you need to watch this film with an open heart, and not a mind with such high expectations. After hearing such good reviews, I expected this film to be the absolute most incredible piece of moviemaking in the world. Literally. You need to let go of all that and just absorb yourself in little Ponette's world. Watch it another time if you need to; only through a wide-open heart can you truly get as much out of this movie as possible. The only part about the film that made me a little skeptical was the way Ponette's mother was presented. "You are nutty but nice. Stop crying; stop complaining. I can't stand a crying child." Somehow, through these words, she is almost telling her little daughter that her emotions and her ways of expressing them are unnatural and unacceptable. What kind of parent would say this to their four-year-old child who is under such emotional distress and does not understand why she can't be with her mother? It seems like Ponette's superiors are all oblivious to her pain and do not know how to help her, let alone simply allow her to grieve. I mean, come on--she's not feeling sorry for herself; she's in PAIN--deeper pain than some people never know in their whole lives. Nonetheless, this is Ponette's story, and nobody else's. It allows her to share what SHE is going through and tell the story of how she, as a four-year-old child, is coping. It is an emotional headfirst plunge into her distraught life and her personal attempt to put her mother right in the center of a religion that will allow eternal interaction between her and the beloved parent she has lost. Maybe you'll cry, maybe you'll go and hug your mom, maybe you'll use what you learned to make your life better and more liveable. No matter how you react to this movie, however, you will most likely be genuinely touched and forever changed by Ponette's lesson. It's a film centered around children--very young children--but don't doubt their amazing ability to teach you. Children are, in certain ways, some of the best teachers out there. Ponette has a lesson to share that humankind is not meant to forget. Rent it...buy it...do whatever you can to make sure this movie makes it straight to your heart, because once you watch it, that's just where it will go.
Rating:
Summary: Child Wonder
Review: The central theme of the movie is how a 4 year old girl deals with the death of her mother. But as with most French movies, this movie is also about the celebration of life. Left to care for by her aunt, the story follows Ponette's trials and tribulations following her mother's death. Ponette goes through her friends, fantasy and religion in hoping that she will be reunited with her mother. What brings this movie alive is the star of the movie, Victoire Thivisol who plays Ponette. The range of emotions that she plays in this movie is mainly of frustration, anger, sadness and naivete. She plays the role brilliantly, sometimes you are left wondering whether the girl is acting or did her real-life mother actually died. Her talent is Oscar-worthy and would be envied by many actors and actresses in Hollywood. This movie is a must-watch. Good theme. Superb acting. Brilliant Thivisol. I guarantee you that this gut-wrenching movie will move you, or I will personally eat my sock.
Rating:
Summary: my favorite french movie
Review: I watched this movie in my high school french class. and at first I didn't think I liked it, because I was about to cry in school. but as the movie went on it just got even better. we watched a lot of movies in class that i didn't like i.e. "my father's glory", "my mother's castle", and "Indochine". so I was really glad we got to watch this. seriously if you only see one french movie see this. but i would also reccomend "ma vie en rose"
Rating:
Summary: Dont rent it.. buy it
Review: One of the most touching sensitive movies I have ever watched. I saw the VHS in the library and picked it up because of the angelic face on the cover. Now, I am buying the DVD.The child who plays "Ponette" is absolutely fabulous. The story is simple. It gives an amazing insight into a child's mind and how she processes and understands the idea of "death". I liked the "ta li ta koom" part the best. The hope in Ponette's eyes, and later the hopeless disappointment, is unbelievable. I could not get over this movie for months after I first watched it. I wish I knew French. But, even with just following the subtitles, I lost my heart to little Ponette. Watch it.
Rating:
Summary: Through the eyes of a child
Review: This movie takes into the world of children, explaining things they don't understand, making it up as they go along. Ponette is struggling to deal with her grief in her efforts to reach her mother who's gone to heaven. Victoire Thivisol's performance is heartbreakingly poignant and so real. She's a beautiful child and she fills the screen with Ponette's luminous spirit. Attila the Hun would need a handkerchief!
Rating:
Summary: LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!
Review: I'VE RCENTLY BECOME A HUGE FAN OF FOREIGN FILMS, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NOT SEEN TOO MANY! I LOVE ''PONETTE'' BECAUSE THE CHARACTER PONETTE WAS SO CONVINCING WHEN SHE HAD TRAGICALLY LOST HER MOTHER IN A CAR ACCIDENT. IT MADE ME CRY MANY TIMES THROUGH OUT THE FILM. WHAT A WONDERFUL ACTRESS VICTORIA IS. I FIRST SAW THIS FILM WHEN I RENTED IT IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR. I LOVED IT SO MUCH I NAMED MY NEWLY ADOPTED CAT ''PONETTE'' AND THEN RENTED IT AGAIN THIS PAST WEEK. I'M LOOKING TO PURCHASE IT AS WELL.GREAT FILM!
Rating:
Summary: An absolutely oustanding, heart-breaking movie
Review: This is by far, the best foreign film out there. There is the humor but yet the saddness of it all. Victoire Thivisol plays wonderfully as a 4 year old, who just lost her mother. I don't know how they got her to cry, but it felt like you were part of the movie when she was crying. An absolute awesome film
Rating:
Summary: heartbreaker
Review: i have never seen a film before that churned so many emotions within myself.i consider myself a hard person but this film made me cry like a baby.a view inside the mind of a four year old girl who has lost her mum,the saddest film i have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece!
Review: Ponette is the story of a young child grieving the death of a parent. It is amazing to me that Victoire Thivisol (in title role) had never acted before this film. This is an incredible portrayal of the emotions and private worlds of young children. The film almost seems like a documentary. The story unfolds matter-of-factly, without cheap emotional manipulations. A beautiful and touching film.
Rating: 
Summary: A Hearbreaker
Review: Poignant film about a four year old trying to deal with death of her mother. Her father is in the middle of his grief and anger, and can't comfort his daughter properly. Her cousins and playmates offer up their versions of what they think death and dying is about, but they can't explain things well to Ponette, either. The poor little girl just wants her mother back, and doesn't understand why she's gone. Keep a box of tissues handy for this one.
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