Diablo Menthe (released as Pepperment Soda in the US), dir. Diane Kurys

“Diablo Menthe” is first foreign film remember seeing. I don’t remember having to read subtitles making an impression on me, but was impressed young girls were the leads of the film and how they were portrayed which I had no real comparison to in American film at the time. The two young leads were the focus of the film and they weren’t sex objects or in peril needing to be saved, nor was it unrealistic Disney-esque teen romance. It was about them maturing and dealing with divorce as well as everyday problems with friends and school. Young girls as the main characters still aren’t common in American film. And, no, sorry, I can’t count Hannah Montana movies.