Review of Small Change (1976) by Kendra J — 18 Apr 2010

I never can make up my mind what I think of Francois Truffaut. I feel compelled to watch his films for some reason, and they always seem to stick with me, but I'm never sure whether I liked them or not. "L'Argent de Poche" is the first of Truffaut's films that I can say without a doubt that I really enjoyed.

"L'Argent de Poche" (Pocket Money) follows a small group of French children living in the mid-seventies through various small vignettes and adventures. All the children appear to have been amateurs and none seemed to have continued careers in cinema. The lack of experience of the child actors does not hinder their performances in this film, rather I think it enhances it. There is a genuineness to the actions and dialogue of the children that really shines through over the course of the film.

There is only one moment where Truffaut abandons realism for a fairy tale ending which I think detracts a bit from the overall atmosphere of the film. That small moment aside, the film shows a wonderful little snapshot of what life might have been like to be a child in France in the mid-seventies, without the usual sugar-coated treatment that one usually finds in movies about children.