Lili

Movie review by Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Lili Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 6+

Classic love story of an orphan and the carnival.

NR 1953 83 minutes
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Parents say

age 12+

Based on 2 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this classic drama is tame enough even for young grade-schoolers. There are some G-rated references to issues like infidelity and seduction, and one of the main characters slaps another and gets drunk, but overall this is age-appropriate for 6 and up.

Community Reviews

Ken R.
Ken R. Adult
August 24, 2021
age 9+

Lilli – Innocence, Charm, Discovery

All too rarely has a film about lost innocence and earnest love been so sensitively brought to the screen. Respected screenwriter Helen Deutsch (The Seventh Cross ‘44) adapted Paul Gallico’s (The Snow Goose) darkly observant novella “The Seven Souls of Clement O’Reilly” into an inspiringly charming story of a naive young orphaned girls coming of age. Deutsch also maintains the opportunistic exploitation of the vulnerable girl without sensationalizing this angle. The Academy award-winning score by brilliant composer Bronislau Kaper is nothing short of unforgettably brilliant. This beautifully produced MGM film cannot be called a musical as there’s only one song but what a song! It’s been universally popular for over 60years, and screenplay writer Helen Deutsch also wrote the world-renowned lyrics that accompany Kaper’s magnificent music. The haunting dream-ballet sequence that closes this unique movie brings both tears of joy and wonder at its stirring and visually fascinating realization. Direction, music, sets, writing, choreography, art- direction, cinematography (Robert Plank - ‘Strange Cargo ’40) and performances, combine to create movie making at its most magical and should be seen by all lovers of classic film art. In 2004 the New York Times added Lilli to their listing of the best 1,000 movies ever made. May not be to everyone’s tastes but whatever is? The WB Archive DVD delivers an excellent visual and sound transfer.
AlliCatCA
AlliCatCA Adult
June 28, 2020
age 15+

One good song and nice dancing but...

I have a 6-year and 8-year-old and would not show this movie to them yet. I saw the film Lili listed on a website that said 100 Musicals I Want to Show My Children Before They Turn 18 (or something like that) and this movie was listed as Age 6!! The story is about a 16-year-old French orphan who is homeless. She ends up at a circus/carnival IN LOVE WITH A MARRIED MAN and loved but berated and generally mistreated by her boss who, in the end, turns out to be the man with whom she is actually in love. The movie has puppets and some people on Amazon said they saw this movie when they were 5 or 6 but the subject matter is really not for children. Plus, the movie and the puppets aren't so great that it's worth showing this movie to young children, imho. Lastly, to the woman who put it on her list of musicals. It's not really a musical.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Lili (Leslie Caron), a French orphan, is dazzled by a handsome carnival magician named Marcus (Jean Pierre Aumont) when he speaks kindly to her, and she follows him back to the carnival. She gets a job as a waitress there, but is fired for spending too much time watching his act. Lonely and sad, she thinks of suicide, but a puppet called Carrot Top calls out to her kindly, and she starts to talk to him and the other puppets: Golo, the simple giant who is shy with girls; Margurite, the vain beauty; and Renaldo, the sly, crafty fox. Paul (Mel Ferrar) the puppeteer, a bitter, angry man, offers her a job in the act, and through his puppets reveals his feelings for Lili. But Lili still has a crush on Marcus, who is actually married, secretly, to his assistant (Zsa Zsa Gabor).

Is It Any Good?

LILI is a charming story with a lovely theme song, simply told but with a great deal of psychological insight. Lili believes what she sees on the surface. She believes the shopkeeper who offers her a job, but it turns out that he is just making a pass at her. She believes Marcus' easy charm and small tricks. She believes Paul is unfeeling. But that same naiveté is what makes her interaction with the puppets so endearingly believable. As she says, she always forgets that they are not real. Just as Paul can only open up through them, she only opens up to them.

Paul is attracted to Lili because she is such a contrast to him -- she is direct, completely clear about her feelings. His leg is not as crippled as his heart. He has closed himself off, and yet his spirit needs to express itself; he needs to relate to people. So he does it through the puppets, and through them he has a freedom he could not otherwise have. When the act becomes successful, he can for the first time since his injury begin to develop the self-confidence he needs to be able to open himself up to a relationship without going through the puppets as his intermediaries.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why it is easier for Paul to say what he is thinking through the puppets. What does he mean when he says, "I am the puppets?" What does Lili mean when she says that people outgrow dreams? Why is it so important to Paul that the men who made him the offer didn't know he had a limp?

Movie Details

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