Jean-François and the Meaning of Life 15

Part of ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival 2019 tour, presented by HOME, Manchester, with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from The National Lottery.

Portabella’s debut film is a witty and whimsical take on the growing pains of adolescence. Young teenager Francesc – a solitary boy with an eye patch and a psychiatrist – is natural prey for school bullies, until he finds a novel escape in the form of French existentialist philosophy. With deep commitment to the ideas of Albert Camus, he turns up his coat collar, calls himself Jean-François, and resolves to make a pilgrimage from Catalonia to Paris. En route he meets Lluna, an older girl who awakens his budding hormones and becomes his surprising travel companion. Accompanied by a baroque score and suitably philosophical chapter titles, this is a stylish and sweet coming-of-age tale. Winner of Best Director and Best Score at the Toulouse Cinespaña.