La petite voleuse (1988)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Claude Miller

Writers:

François Truffaut (screenplay) &
Claude de Givray (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

A Deliciously Sexy Tale Of Love And Larceny.

Plot:

In a small town in post-World-War-II France, an unhappy sixteen-year-old (Janine Castang) tries to escape...

Plot Keywords:

Thief | Maid | Beach | Normandy | Teenage Girl In Swimwear

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	Janine Castang
Didier Bezace	...	Michel Davenne
Simon de La Brosse	...	Raoul
Clotilde de Bayser	...	Séverine Longuet
Raoul Billerey	...	L'oncle André Rouleau / Uncle André Rouleau
Chantal Banlier	...	La tante Léa / Aunt Léa
Nathalie Cardone	...	Mauricette
Renée Faure	...	La mère Busato / Mother Busato
Catherine Arditi	...	La directrice de l'école / School Director
Gilbert Bahon	...	Le brigadier
Clothilde Baudon	...	Bonnin
Joëlle Bruyas	...	Soeur Marie-Odile
Denise Chiabaut	...	Le médecin / Doctor
Philippe Deplanche	...	Jacques Longuet
Erick Deshors	...	Raymond

Also Known As:

The Little Thief (USA)

Runtime:

France:109 min | USA:105 min (cut version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:R | Finland:K-14 | Sweden:11 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Barneville-Carteret, Manche, France

Company:

Orly Films

Movie Connections:

Version of Les quatre cents coups (1959)

The Jane of Hearts

She steals from the church to go to the movies. Janine, you've got to like her. But her own life is unlike the song-and-dance pictures she likes so much. It's more like a ballad, set to music in a minor key. As Bob Dylan famously put it: "She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs, with men in every walk of life which took her everywhere." While Janine may have the genes of a flirt and a crook, it's the men she meets that take her from petty theft to grand larceny. She finds out the hard way there are limits even for a pretty girl and ends up in a nunnery that is half poorhouse, half prison. By showing us what she does, rather than narrating what happens to her, Claude Miller brings to life a story (written by none other than François Truffaut himself) that may easily have turned out corny at a lesser man's hands. The 1950s rural and Parisian sets are designed with just the right mixture of dedication and détente to make you forget it's only make-belief. The whole thing feels entirely natural and deeply touching at the same time. The biggest credit, of course, is due to the amazing Charlotte Gainsbourg and her arresting performance in the part of Janine. She resists the temptation of playing her as a teenage martyr and makes her a cheeky Cinderella instead.