Mes petites amoureuses

Thirteen-year-old Daniel leads a carefree life in the village: he has a circle of friends of which he is an integral part, does well at school and has a good relationship with his grandmother, who is his guardian. Everything changes when his mother (Ingrid Caven) brings him to live with her in the city. To help make ends meet, Daniel leaves school and gets a job at a bicycle workshop. He experiences the reality of the adult world, including its social hierarchies and the dreary daily grind of work, and attempts to find distraction through sexual escapades. Jean Eustache’s first color film is the conclusion of his autobiographical trilogy. In contrast to the eloquence and verbal power of LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN, this is a film of silence. Daniel endures the injuries inflicted upon him in silence. Eustache depicts his journey from a ‘normal’ childhood into the margins with detachment and without sentimentality or anger: ‘Showing rebellious characters only serves to appease the general public’ (Jean Eustache). (hjf)