SUNDAYS & CYBELE (France-1962, starring Hardy Kruger and Patricia Gozzi)

Were it not for poorly-rendered subtitles (white lettering on a stark, black and white film) this classic French art house film would be a far more satisfying viewing experience. Despite the annoyance of the at times hard to read titles, SUNDAYS & CYBELE is a moving and poignant exploration of a rather unusual relationship.

Hardy Kruger plays a traumatized French fighter pilot who has recently been shipped back home following service in Vietnam. (Remember the French were there before the U.S.) As the film’s opening scene shows us, Kruger bombed a young Vietnamese girl and is now clearly suffering for his action. Through the child’s death was not anticipated or intended, the disturbing event has not only traumatized Kruger, but left him an amnesiac, unable to remember his past.

He now lives in Paris with a woman who loves him deeply; a former nurse who met and nurtured him while he was initially hospitalized. Theirs appears to be a one-sided relationship, with Kruger’s Pierre being child-like and unresponsive to the love and desire of his nurse/girlfriend.

Sundays finds Pierre alone while his girlfriend commutes to work in a nearby hospital. On one fateful Sunday, Pierre (who spends much time at the train station) encounters a man and his young pre-teen daughter, who appear to be in the midst of a domestic dilemma. Pierre’s innocent curiosity is aroused and he invests interest in the child’s plight.

The little girl (Cybele) is about to be placed in a Catholic boarding school/orphanage. She is extremely upset at her impending abandonment. The father, though he swears he will visit her each Sunday, does in fact abandon her and flees the country.

Pierre, observing this unhappy incident and then befriending the girl, resolves to try and cheer her up. Both he and Cybele, who is renamed Francoise by the nuns, resolve to pretend they are father and daughter so that the nuns will allow Pierre to take his ‘daughter’ on Sunday outings.

Thus the relationship between adult man and female child is established. While there is a definite innocence about the interaction, Cybele/Francoise does profess her love for Pierre, saying she will marry him when she is 18. Pierre, who seems incapable of a salacious or inappropriate thought or action, reciprocates her love in an innocent, fairy-tale-like way.

The relationship remains clandestine, but is never corrupt. However casual observers seem bothered by the closeness of the man and girl. The fact Pierre does not inform his girlfriend of the child does not help matters.

Gradually, complications ensue and matters come to a tragic conclusion. The bubble of innocence is burst and the tremendous need for understanding and innocent love that both Pierre and Cybele crave are left unfulfilled, even at the moment of emotional satisfaction. Pierre’s healing and progress toward mental and emotional recovery is halted. Cybele (who has kept her real name from Pierre, like a closely-guarded secret to be given up only when healing/emotional satisfaction is attained—a sort of innocent metaphor for her virginity) is last seen crying that she is now nameless—ever lost without the one person to truly show her kindness and love. Her tear-stained face is very moving. The starkness of the photography seems to emphasize the black and white world that Pierre and Cybele inhabit, where there is no ‘grey area’ allowed (i.e. their unconventional relationship).

There is not the slightest hint of inappropriate behaviour between an adult man and the little girl, helping this moving film to remain bittersweet in its aftertaste.

Hardy Kruger gives an endearing performance and Patricia Gozzi as Cybele is utterly natural.

The performances, along with the sensitive script and fine photography, are an integral part of the success of this film.

SUNDAYS & CYBELE is available from various sources, although I obtained mine from the diverse library of Woody Wise. I don’t know if a remastered, resubtitled version of this film exists. The print from Discount Video is acceptable. It’s the subtitling that is the problem. While there are some frustrations involved in ‘reading’ this film (unless you are fluent in French) it is still highly recommended.

SUNDAYS & CYBELE will please lovers of foreign films and love stories. There isn’t a false moment in this classic 1962 homage to human relationships.

Jon Ted Wynne