The camera in Pompei, aka So Long Billie, meanders as slowly through pretty, vacant countryside as the script does through its young characters' pretty, vacant lives. And that's pretty darn slow. Demanding a patience that is not rewarded by its ending, Pompei may end up feeling like the longest pretty, vacant 90 minutes of its viewers' lives.
Plot summary
Left devastated by his father's desertion, Victor (Aliocha Schneider) cares for his little brother Jimmy while scraping by through the theft of artifacts from nearby archaeological sites under the watchful eye of Toxou (Vincent Rottiers),a self-appointed leader, and flanked by other vagrant children in an environment devoid of care, intimacy, and providence--and with strange, strictly-imposed rules. The arrival of Billie (Garance Marillier) awakens Victor, but her unbridled romanticism threatens his community of lost misfits. As tensions rise, Victor must choose between loyalty and love. Meanwhile, Jimmy eagerly awaits his 13th birthday, which is to be marked by a barbaric coming-of-age ritual all the youth must undertake. Moments pass; an hourglass is turned over; time is running out.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Garance Marillier as Billie