L'argent de poche (1976)

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

François Truffaut (original scenario) and
Suzanne Schiffman (original scenario)

Release Date:

17 March 1976 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

In the town of Thiers, summer of 1976, teachers and parents give their children skills, love, and attention...

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | Children | Baby | 1970s | Child Abuse

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nicole Félix	...	Grégory's mother (as Nicole Felix)
Chantal Mercier	...	Chantal Petit, the Schoolteacher
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Jean-François Richet, the Schoolteacher (as Jean-François Stevenin)
Virginie Thévenet	...	Lydie Richet (as Virginie Thevenet)
Tania Torrens	...	Nadine Riffle, hairdresser
René Barnerias	...	Monsieur Desmouceaux, Patrick's father
Katy Carayon	...	Sylvie's Mother
Jean-Marie Carayon	...	Police inspector, Sylvie's father
Annie Chevaldonne	...	Nurse
Francis Devlaeminck	...	Monsieur Riffle, hairdresser, Laurent's father
Michel Dissart	...	Monsieur Lomay, constable
Michele Heyraud	...	Madame Deluca
Paul Heyraud	...	Monsieur Deluca
Jeanne Lobre	...	Julien's grandmother (as Jane Lobre)
Vincent Touly	...	Concierge

Also Known As:

Pocket Money (International: English title) (literal title)
Small Change (USA)

Runtime:

France:104 min | USA:104 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG | West Germany:6 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Allier, France

Company:

Les Films du Carrosse

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [François Truffaut]Sitting in a cabriolet, wearing his standard blue shirt in the first minute of the film.

Movie Connections:

Featured in François Truffaut: Portraits volés (1993)

Soundtrack:

Les enfants s'ennuient le dimanche

Moments of Childhood Closely Observed

Small Change unfolds like a poem - it's a collection of moments, thoughts and experiences, all clustered together, adding up to a very significant outcome. What it amounts to is the most thoughtful reflections of childhood I've ever seen, given from the perspective of many different age groups.

The film has many scenes that are used as a vehicle to illustrate the differences between children and adults - usually comparing the former favorably to the latter. This is clear in a scene where a girl and her father watch two seemingly identical goldfish swimming around in a fishbowl. "That's Plic" says the girl. "And that's Ploc." But her father can't see the difference. A child's superior eye for detail has rarely been so clearly exposed on film.

Most of the vignettes are funny. Some demonstrate childhood resilience, such as a scene where a toddler falls nine stories but is uninjured. Another shows children's uncanny ability to make the best of a bad situation, when a girl left alone at home thinks of an interesting way to draw attention to herself.

But among these funny episodes a more serious situation develops. The movie slowly but sharply draws a contrast between the children who come from loving families, and one child, a youth of about 13, who does not. Moments of this abused child's life are also closely observed - the pain of rejection, the joy of finding coins on the ground at an amusement park, and the innovative schemes to get by and survive. Julien's childhood is shown as a painful period, but an occasionally magical one nonetheless.

What is so pleasurable about viewing Small Change is its simplicity - it's rarely a film where you constantly need to grope your mind for implications or deeper meaning. Most of the scenes are remarkably uncluttered, just like childhood itself.

Unbelievably, this film was rated R upon its original release, then rightfully changed to a PG upon public outcry. A PG-13 would probably be the most appropriate rating, but this classification wouldn't come into effect for another 7 years. It is completely appropriate for children, but does seem geared primarily towards adults. Because the language is quite simple, it could also be viewed as an ideal movie in second or third year French. Not just for fans of Truffaut, I couldn't recommend this remarkable movie more.