As Camus noted, the only real philosophical problem is suicide. Eleven-year-old Paloma (Garance Le Guillemic) agrees, and plans to kill herself on her 12th birthday because she doesn't want to end up like the other members of her family — goldfish in a bowl. Existentialism isn't Paloma's only precocity; she has the graphic talent of Aubrey Beardsley, a knowledge of esoterica, and the wit of Oscar Wilde. Call me skeptical, but I don't think such a child exists. Paloma spends the time she has left videotaping her life, but her determination to do herself in wavers when she learns that the gruff concierge Mme. Michel (Josiane Balasko) reads Tolstoy. Then elegant Mr. Ozu (Togo Igawa) moves in; Mme. Michel is so hip she asks if he's related to the filmmaker. He's not, but they become an item. So maybe not everyone is a goldfish. Mona Achache's adaptation of Muriel Barbery's best-seller maintains a goofy tone and avoids the treacle until it pulls a ploy that Camus would never have approved of.
