The Little Thief

An engaging if minor Claude Miller film (1989), misleadingly billed on U.S. release as the last story from Francois Truffaut (the original story was written by Truffaut with Claude de Givray, though the final screenplay, apparently including only a line or two of Truffaut’s original dialogue, is the work of Luc Beraud with Claude and Annie Miller). In 1950 a 16-year-old petty thief and shoplifter (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who lives in a small French village with her aunt and uncle, is caught with her loot and sent away. She goes to work as a live-in maid for a wealthy couple, begins an affair with a man in his 40s (Didier Bezace), and then falls in love with a younger man (Simon de la Brosse) who is also a thief; later she winds up in reform school. The film is very good in evoking the early 50s and in fashioning a gracefully elliptical style, but its main source of charm is the lead performance of Charlotte Gainsbourg (daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg). The original film was modified somewhat for American distribution. (JR)

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