TOULOUSE
Christophe is a thirteen-year-old boy – cheerful, mischievous and carefree – whose life would be quite ordinary, if not happy, were it not for his frequent loss of balance, which regularly disrupts family life and the running of the farm. What a klutz! For example, when he tries his hand at driving the brand-new tractor for the first time, he ends up in the ditch, infuriating his father and his older brother, who is naturally not very understanding and tends to show his affection in a rather gruff manner. After a string of disasters, the lad was dragged from doctor to specialist, followed by X-rays, tests and a diagnosis: for many long months, Christophe was fitted with a brace ‘to keep him straight’. Wearing this instrument of torture was accompanied by equally compulsory and tedious laps in the swimming pool… Teased, he quickly becomes the class ‘Robocop’ – but his isolation catches the eye of the village organist, who needs a page-turner for mass and recognises a definite gift for music in the boy. And then, at the swimming pool, there’s Clara. A rebellious, truant teenager and budding swimming champion, whose presence triggers strange reactions in Christophe: untimely stammering, blushing, sweating, a racing heartbeat…
