Ça brûle

15-year-old Livia’s passion blazes up when she is lifted out of unconsciousness by fireman Jean following a riding accident. It’s her summer vacation and she is bored of the sleepy Provence town where she gets up to tricks on the back of her horse E.T. She is annoyed by her divorced parents and carries a latent sense of anger with her all the time anyway. She wears red as a rule and tries to win the heart of the much older, married Jean. She follows his every turn, impulsively, obsessively, unpredictably and without inhabitation. Finally, she starts a fire in the forest… Claire Simon draws on a real wildfire to visualize the inner world of a teenager and make it externally tangible in dramatic fashion. This film of great intensity ends with a sea of flames that fill the screen. (bik)