PETITE MAMAN ****

 At just 72 minutes "Petite Maman" might be described as the perfect miniature and after "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" it clearly establishes Celine Sciamma as one of the finest directors working today. The premis is very simple; after the death of her beloved grandmother a little girl, Nelly, travels with her parents to the family home where, through some strange osmosis, she meets her mother, Marion, as a child. Is it a dream; has she travelled back in time? Nelly never questions what's happened but observes and accepts the other child as a new playmate as the two lives merge.

Of course, Nelly knows who the little girl is; she just accepts this new person in her life as a means of discovery, both of the past and of what will come, and nothing Sciamma does here seems incongruous or out of place. This is a new take on the 'lonely child' movie that's also a profound meditation on life, death and the love of a child for a parent and Josephine Sanz is wonderful as Nelly, (her sister,Gabrielle, is also excellent as her 'petite maman'), while it's also incredibly moving. Here, life isn't disappointing at all but something to grasp with both hands since we never quite know when it will be taken away from us.

Mr. 880 **

 This comedy about an inept counterfeiter who manages to keep one step ahead of the law for years on end earned Edmund Gwenn an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. The stars are Burt Lancaster, (the Secret Service man on Gwenn's trail), and Dorothy McGuire, (Gwenn's friend that Lancaster falls for), and the director was Edmund Goulding who doesn't do anything special here other than keep things ticking along very nicely. If it feels 'Capraesque' at times perhaps it's because the screenplay was written by Capra collaborator Robert Riskin and maybe it's a little too gentle than it ought to be but it's well-played, (the always excellent Millard Mitchell is another Secret Service Agent), with both Lancaster and McGuire proving very adept at comedy. Not much seen now but worth seeing if you get the chance.