# Little Romance, A (1979)

### reviewed by
Shane Burridge

    A Little Romance (1979) 108m.

Light-hearted film by George Roy Hill shows once again how assuredly he is able to work in any genre of his choosing. Two young teenaged geniuses (played by newcomers Diane Lane and Thelonious Bernard) meet by chance in Paris and pledge their hearts to each other. They enlist the aid of an elderly gentleman (Laurence Olivier) to arrange themselves an interlude in Italy away from Lane's disapproving mother. Amazingly, this film works despite what should be its only real weak point - Lane and Bernard's lack of chemistry together. They are immediately likeable as individuals: Lane is impish yet level-headed; Bernard is savvy without being smarmy, and their friendship is believable. Still, they don't demonstrate enough emotional highs and lows to prove themselves to us as lovers (although they are at least idealistic). A LITTLE ROMANCE manages a perfect combination of elements: engaging performances, romantic European locations, a buoyant score (borrowed mostly from Vivaldi), and a smart, observant screenplay.

Hill avoids conscious stylistic elements and plays it low-key, making this more European and less American than his other films (Americans aren't portrayed flatteringly in this picture). His shots of the youngsters watching movies or scampering through the city streets may remind you of Truffaut. Hill also throws in a couple of references to his own movies, and has Bernard first meet Lane when he sneaks on to a film set - significantly, she is reading a book. Bernard compares their partnership to Bogart and Bacall; Lane is more excited about being in the birthplace of Romeo and Juliet; Bernard is a fan of Robert Redford; Lane prefers Elizabeth Barrett Browning. While both read literature, it's only Bernard who enthuses about film. It's interesting, because while Bernard is the one more fascinated by the world of make-believe, it is the philosophy-reading Lane that wants to live out a romantic caprice. And thrown into the mix is Olivier, going one step further and fabricating his entire life (as it turns out, nearly everyone in this film is living a lie of one kind or another). Not one of this trio has the power to fulfil a fantasy on their own: it's the melding of their different forms of escapism that finally mobilize all three.

Hill, a notoriously practical director, balances the romantic foolishness of his protagonists' escapade with a sense of studied feasibility. What's really inspiring about A LITTLE ROMANCE is that it doesn't place its premise out of our reach - I don't doubt that several viewers have similarly sought out the story's special kiss on the waterways of Venice. And of course it's great to see Olivier delivering a foxy performance as an old Parisian, enjoying the screen time he has with his much younger co-stars. Like romance itself, this film has a timeless quality - it still holds up well after years of viewing.

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