Earlier this month, the new film adaptation of "The Little Prince" made its debut in the United States as a Netflix exclusive. Having finally watched it earlier this week (inaugurating my new laptop in the process), the verdict is in from this longtime fan of the beautiful French tale: I cried bucketloads of happy, sad, and nostalgic tears.
For those who are unfamiliar with the story, "The Little Prince" is based off of a book of the same name by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. At its core, it recounts the adventures of--you guessed it--a little prince as he traverses the galaxy on his way to Earth. On his journey through the stars, he meets all sorts of strange "grandes personnes", or grown-ups, each stuck in their own ways, having forgotten what it was like to see life through a child's eyes. However, it is only when the Prince reaches Earth and befriends a grounded aviator--our narrator--that his wisdom falls on open ears.
The film version of Exupéry's beloved tale takes the story of the Little Prince one step further by grounding it in a new story: that of a young girl prematurely facing the pressures of adult life. As this girl learns more and more about the Prince (from an aging aviator, no less), her story becomes ever more entwined with his, until she finds herself on her own Prince-like odyssey of self-discovery. What results is not only a visual feast of CGI and stop-motion animation, but also a heartwarming fable about what is truly essential in life: that which is invisible to the eye.
I could go on about how transcendent the symbolism is in this sweet children's tale (spoiler alert: the Prince is a Christ figure), or how much I want my own plush of the Fox (he's in the picture above and he's SO CUTE), but seeing as I've already given a lot away, I'll just leave the rest open for others to experience for themselves. Instead, I'll go on to explain just why "The Little Prince" never fails to make me weepy, no matter the medium through which it's told.
Did you ever have that class in high school that never failed to make your day better? The one that you looked forward to the most amid the rest of your daily routine? I was fortunate enough to have quite a few subjects serve that purpose for me, but that being said, I never failed to find consistent solace in French. The French program was very small at my school, so each year I'd be surrounded by the same group of students, and have the same great teacher (Mrs. Tessier, if you're reading this...bonjour!). As a result, my French classes had a certain level of consistency to them, and with that consistency came confidence. They really helped me feel more comfortable being myself in the classroom, which is quite a valuable thing considering that, generally speaking, high school isn't always the most socially stable four years of your life. So, in short, I always left our "salle de classe" feeling more enthusiastic and refreshed than when I had entered it, and that will always be something I'm thankful for.
With all that exposition out of the way, I can now get to the point where I mention our study of "Le Petit Prince" my junior year. While reading it in its original French, I fell in love with how it communicated so much complexity through so much simplicity, and the beauty of some of the expressions that Saint-Exupéry uses. Combined with the fact that I was reading the story in such an engaging and positive environment, I suppose that the odds of me not enjoying the book were pretty slim to none.
In turn, watching "The Little Prince" on Netflix caused so many happy memories from high school French to come flooding back. Not only is the film true to the original story that I fell in love with in class, but it also captures its tone in a new, exciting, and even bittersweet way. That bittersweetness especially hit home for me, both because I've decided to stop taking French as of this coming semester, and because the French program that meant so much to me in the first place no longer exists. I just can't help but mourn a bit, knowing that this movie won't be used as a learning supplement for other juniors reading "The Little Prince" in years to come. Not to worry though, Mrs. T; I still look back very fondly at the musical we watched in class as our own supplement to the book. "Faites Attention des Baobabs" and "C'est un Chapeau" will forever be hardcore jams.
If you're interested in finding out more about "The Little Prince", you can buy the book here, or watch the film trailer below.
