Learn Hardcore French: Ce film me rappelle mon enfance. - This movie reminds me of my childhood.

Use ce before a consonant sound:
- ce film, ce livre, ce garçon
Use cet before a vowel sound (or mute h):
- cet homme, cet arbre, cet hôtel

Since film starts with the consonant sound f, you must say ce film, not cet film.

What exactly does me do here in Ce film me rappelle mon enfance?

Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me.

The verb rappeler is used in the pattern:

rappeler quelque chose à quelqu’un
(to remind someone of something)

So the structure is:

Ce film – subject (this film)
me – indirect object pronoun (to me)
rappelle – verb (reminds)
mon enfance – direct object (my childhood)

Literally: This film reminds my childhood to me.

That is why me comes before the verb rappelle.

Why don’t we say Ce film rappelle à moi mon enfance instead of using me?

You could say à moi in very marked, emphatic speech:

Ce film rappelle mon enfance à moi. (with strong emphasis on me)

But the normal and neutral way is to use the pronoun:

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance.

French prefers clitic pronouns (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur) before the verb in everyday sentences, not full phrases like à moi, à toi, à lui, except when stressing or contrasting:

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance, pas la tienne.

Why isn’t there a preposition like de before mon enfance, as in English reminds me of my childhood?

Because rappeler does not use de in this construction.

The pattern is:

rappeler quelque chose à quelqu’un
(remind someone of something)

So mon enfance is a direct object, not introduced by a preposition:

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance.
= This film reminds me of my childhood.

Saying me rappelle de mon enfance is incorrect in standard French in this meaning.

Could we say Ce film me rappelle de mon enfance?

No, that is considered wrong in standard French for this meaning.

Correct forms are:

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance. ✅
Je me rappelle mon enfance. ✅
Je me souviens de mon enfance. ✅

But with rappeler in the sense to remind, you do not use de before what is being remembered.

Why is it mon enfance even though enfance is feminine?

Enfance is indeed feminine, so you might expect ma enfance.

However, French uses mon / ton / son (the “masculine” forms) before a feminine noun that begins with a vowel sound to avoid the ugly vowel clash:

mon enfance (not ma enfance)
mon amie (feminine), ton histoire, son idée

So:

mon enfance = my childhood (feminine noun, but with mon for ease of pronunciation).

Could we omit me and just say Ce film rappelle mon enfance?

You can say Ce film rappelle mon enfance, but the meaning shifts slightly.

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance.
→ This film reminds me of my childhood. (personal reaction)
Ce film rappelle mon enfance.
→ This film recalls/evokes my childhood. (more like a neutral statement, as if the film itself is evocative of that period, not explicitly “to me”)

In everyday speech about your own feelings, people normally say me rappelle.

What is the difference between rappeler and se rappeler?

They are related but used differently.

rappeler quelque chose à quelqu’un
= to remind someone of something
- Ce film me rappelle mon enfance.
  (This film reminds me of my childhood.)
se rappeler quelque chose (reflexive)
= to remember something
- Je me rappelle mon enfance.
  (I remember my childhood.)

Key points:

With se rappeler, you do not use de:
Je me rappelle ça. ✅ / Je me rappelle de ça. ❌ (in standard French)
With simple rappeler in the “remind” sense, you use the pattern rappeler X à Y.

How does this structure compare literally to the English This film reminds me of my childhood?

Word-by-word mapping:

Ce film → This film
me → to me (indirect object pronoun)
rappelle → reminds
mon enfance → my childhood

Literal French logic:
This film reminds my childhood to me.

English logic:
This film reminds me of my childhood.

Different prepositions and roles, but same overall meaning.

How is rappelle formed from rappeler, and how is it pronounced?

Conjugation (present, 3rd person singular):

Infinitive: rappeler
Stem: rappel-
Form: il/elle/on rappelle

There is a spelling change: the consonant l is doubled in forms like je rappelle, tu rappelles, il/elle rappelle, etc. That doubling helps maintain the correct vowel sound.

Pronunciation: roughly ra-pèl

Final -e is mute
Stress falls on the last syllable -pelle (as in most French words).

Can we use souvenir instead, like Ce film me souvient mon enfance?

No, that is incorrect.

The correct verb is se souvenir de (reflexive):

Je me souviens de mon enfance. ✅
(I remember my childhood.)

You cannot say me souvient in this way:

Ce film me souvient mon enfance. ❌

To keep the meaning This film reminds me of my childhood, use:

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance. ✅

What is the difference between Ce film me rappelle mon enfance and Ce film me fait penser à mon enfance?

Both can be translated as This film reminds me of my childhood, but with nuances:

Ce film me rappelle mon enfance.
→ A bit more direct/literal: the film brings back memories of your childhood.
Ce film me fait penser à mon enfance.
→ Literally: this film makes me think of my childhood. Slightly more indirect or reflective.

Both are idiomatic and common; me rappelle is a bit shorter and more compact.

If there were another pronoun, where would it go, e.g. It reminds me of it?

With rappeler, pronoun order in the present tense is:

me, te, se, nous, vous
le, la, les
lui, leur
then the verb

For It reminds me of it = It reminds it to me (French logic):

Ça me le rappelle.
- me (to me)
- le (it – the thing being recalled)
- rappelle (reminds)

So me le rappelle, not le me rappelle.