Microbe and Gasoline features the antics and adventures of two 14 year old boys based in Versailles on the outer suburbs of Paris. Microbe is Daniel (Ange Dargent), an introverted bullied boy with a smothering mother, so-called because he's a late bloomer thus smaller than his classmates. Enter Gasoline or Theo (Théophile Baquet) a rambunctious newcomer to the school from a tough working class family whose father collects and repairs junk and who knows his way around engines (hence his name).
These two quite different boys become close friends and give fascinating and honest insights into the world of early adolescence as they navigate tensions with parents and siblings, peer pressure/bullying, puberty and self esteem. In the summer of 2014, the boys make a quirky mini house on wheels driven by a large lawnmower engine and sneak off on a journey to the Massif Central to a camp Theo had fond memories of. The puny engine can't climb hills well so that ambitious target is abandoned but the boys have a bunch of hilarious adventures along the way including the smothering attention of an empty nest couple and a brush with Korean pimps and prostitutes.
When the boys finally make it back to their distraught parents, both have grown emotionally and physically - Theo's bolder stronger confidence lifting Daniel's shyness and self esteem and Daniel's more stable home background helping ground the chaos in Theo's family life.
This is French cinema at its best: warm, quirky, honest and funny made all the better by the very realistic and thoughtful acting of the novice teen boy leads who were very authentic.
These two quite different boys become close friends and give fascinating and honest insights into the world of early adolescence as they navigate tensions with parents and siblings, peer pressure/bullying, puberty and self esteem. In the summer of 2014, the boys make a quirky mini house on wheels driven by a large lawnmower engine and sneak off on a journey to the Massif Central to a camp Theo had fond memories of. The puny engine can't climb hills well so that ambitious target is abandoned but the boys have a bunch of hilarious adventures along the way including the smothering attention of an empty nest couple and a brush with Korean pimps and prostitutes.
When the boys finally make it back to their distraught parents, both have grown emotionally and physically - Theo's bolder stronger confidence lifting Daniel's shyness and self esteem and Daniel's more stable home background helping ground the chaos in Theo's family life.
This is French cinema at its best: warm, quirky, honest and funny made all the better by the very realistic and thoughtful acting of the novice teen boy leads who were very authentic.