Year of the Jellyfish (1984)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Chris (Valerie Kaprisky) and her mother Claude (Caroline Cellier) are spending their vacation at a beach resort in the Côte d'Azur. Chris is an 18 year old teenager that is searching for her place in the world – she is sensitive, amoral, egocentric, erratic… and to get what she wants she doesn't mind trampling on other people. There's a hidden rivalry between Chris and her mother, Claude. Chris watches Claude and her relationships with a mixed feeling of jealousy and indignation, but the funny thing is that her mother seems not to be aware of what's taking place within Chris's mind. Chris has many relationships – She is sweet and dangerous - Chris takes people, uses them and disposes of them - she destroys them if necessary. But Chris feels also insecure and doesn't really know what she wants and where to go.The Côte d'Azur of the 80s is very freewheeling. Mother (Claude) and daughter (Chris) sunbathe topless (all the women on the beach do the same), and nudity is no problem at all in "L'Année des Meduses" (The year of the jellyfish). The beautiful Valerie Kaprisky appears frequently naked, but "The year of the jellyfish" is not an exploitation film and the nudity comes naturally - it plays an important part in the environment described by the film. People go to the Côte d'Azur (or any other beach resort) not just to swim, enjoy the scenery or go to discos - they are also looking for something different… different love games, new thrills etc...There's a difference between "The year of the jellyfish" and the similar-themed Italian films of the 70s (perverse/sweet teenage girl). The Italian films (at least those that I've seen), are sexual/romantic (sex and fantasy) and they may be cynical, but many of them are also a bit naive and sentimental. "The year of the jellyfish", on the other hand, is more grim, but it's neither a gray, nor an existentialist film - there's the Côte d'Azur, the girls, the beautiful scenery and the blue sky… and the film displays a subtle irony and sense of humor. Besides showing a greater sense of reality there's sometimes a discreet poetry in its images.Those that are tired of the conventional youth films made nowadays should check out "The year of the jellyfish" – it's a breath of fresh air.

Chris is eighteen and summering with her 38 year-old Mom in the south of France. Also spending the summer at the resort is Romain. Two years earlier Chris met and fell in love with Romain. He used her and broke her heart. Now she is a cynical manipulator, with a lesbian lover at school and a middle-aged male friend of her parents, Vic.The story of how Chris comes to terms with her love for Romain is told through the eyes of several people, including an unseen narrator, and flashbacks.There are several interesting side stories that help develop the main characters. The setting of the south of France is great. Visually stunning. Also the choice of music is very interesting.The primary deficiency is some editing problems and the subtitles run off the screen sometimes.

The motivation for Kaprisky's character (Chris) is as unusual as the use of jelly fish in this movie. The box cover and the reviews for this 1984 sleeper showcase this movie as the sexiest and most controversial film since Last Tango in Paris. Although it has as much, if not more nudity, there is no passion. Year of the Jelly Fish is the story of a young girl, becoming a woman. But there is more to the story. Somewhat of a sex craved youngster, Kaprisky portrays an innocent girl who doesn't want to be innocent. Then again, sex is not her reward. There is an unexplained mom / daughter relationship that has its moments on screen, but overall fails to really explain the struggle between the two characters. The men that these two women share is a struggle in itself. Both characters want to be loved, then again, sometimes all it is is sex that drives them both.The movie has a series of moments that keep Kaprisky fans watching. The rest of the movie tries to remain serious, but for todays audience, it fails to hold up. All in all, this is a must see for Kaprisky fans. It is one of her best and most "looked for" films in her career.

This is only a passable thriller I guess, but I found it interesting for several reasons. First, it is surprisingly trashy and unpretentious for a French movie. While the Italians and the Spanish have made tons of movies like this, the French have always seemed more hesitant to make flat-out genre or exploitation movies without a lot of high-art pretensions. This film is a trashy "lethal Lolita"-type flick along the lines of "Pretty Poison" or "The Crush" (or Italian equivalents like "Peccati di gioventu"). The cinematography, however, is quite impressive--up to the high French standards of arthouse films like "Pauline on the Beach" or "One Wild Moment". It helps that, like those movies, it was filmed in a cinematographer's paradise, the south of France. And, of course, it also features the very, um, photogenic Valerie Kaprisky (who is usually topless and often completely nude) as the lethal Lolita. Kaprisky was in some pretty interesting French movies like this and "La Femme Publique" before she was no doubt black-balled for appearing in the horrible Hollywood remake of "Breathless" with Richard Gere. This one is pretty hard to find, but is definitely worth looking for.