Shark's Son

Though apparently based on a real-life story, this study of two uncontrollable delinquent brothers - it comes on like Les Valseuses for ten-year-olds - often seems far-fetched. The children are convincing, but the narrative is not, alternating as it does between scenes of outrageous anti-social behaviour, implausible escapes from authority, and poetic interludes of dreamy meditation. Aren't these knowing boys ever just boys? Despite Merlet's admirably unsentimental handling of her amoral script, the two-note tone soon becomes wearisome.