Microbe and Gasoline

A French film about two boys. Daniel is fourteen and the smallest in his class. He draws, his hair is long and everyone calls him Microbe. A new pupil arrives. Théo knows about mending things, smells constantly of petrol and is nicknamed Gasoline. The two become friends. As the summer holiday approaches they make a plan: they will build their own vehicle and take to the road. They find an engine and build a wooden body. The vehicle looks like a house; the reason is simple, so that they can stop and pass for a small hut if the police come. They set off. Along the way there are campsites, filling stations, wrong turns and the people they meet. What the film is interested in is not escape but two boys making something themselves and how long it lasts. The narrative builds no great event. Daniel's line at home is part of it too: his relationship with his mother and his interest in a girl at school. Michel Gondry directed and wrote it; the story comes partly from his own childhood. Ange Dargent, Théophile Baquet and Audrey Tautou are in the cast. An enjoyable choice for anyone who likes French films about the young and handmade detail. For a viewer expecting pace, the film moves loosely and makes nothing large of its ending.