Le Temps des secrets: what age is it for?
In France, zinema would say 9.
Alone, or with you
Alone from 10; from 9, with an adult or by talking about it afterwards.
What it's about
Marseille, July 1905. Nearly a teenager, Marcel Pagnol embarks in his last summer vacation before high school and returns, at last, to his beloved hills in Provence. What begins as a summer of boyhood adventures becomes one of the first loves, and unearthed secrets.
Why 10
- Teasing that stingsThe heart of the story is a boy's first crush on a girl who plays with him, tests him, and makes him look foolish in front of others. Around the 49 minute mark the humiliation is open, and there are hard words scattered through the film: idiot, fool, stupid girl. Nothing violent, but a child who has been teased at school may feel it in the stomach.shown
- Adult words, said plainlySix coarse words slip out over the whole film, in the mouths of grown-ups and boys showing off. They are period flavor rather than aggression, but they are there.shown
- Night, tears, and being left behindSeveral long night scenes, a child on his own in the dark, and a few moments of crying around the fifteen minute mark. Sudden loud sounds after quiet stretches can startle a younger viewer.shown
- Death spoken of, not shownDeath comes up in conversation about ten times, and hunting is part of life in these hills, with a shotgun carried and shots heard in the distance. Our reading of images also picked up fights and bodies, but this is a warm summer story in the Provence countryside, not an action film: what you actually see stays gentle.shown
- Wine and cigarettes, 1905 styleAdults drink wine at the table and smoke, as people did in that time and place. It is background, never presented as glamorous.shown
What the movie brings
- A beautiful window onto childhood in the Provence hills a century ago, from one of France's best loved storytellers.
- It puts words on the moment a child stops being simply a child: first love, first shame, first secret kept from parents.
- It shows a friendship between two boys tested and worth repairing.
Watching it together
You could say before it starts that this is a summer from long ago, and that Marcel is about to discover how complicated it is to like someone.
at 10 and up
Marcel keeps something from his parents for the first time. Is there a difference between a secret and a lie?
See the facts
A zinema reading from September 8, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made