''Naked Childhood'' (french: L'enfance nue) is a 1968 French film. It was the feature-length debut of director

Maurice Pialat Maurice Pialat (; 31 August 1925 – 11 January 2003) was a French film director, screenwriter and actor known for the rigorous and unsentimental style of his films. His work is often described as " realist",

, and was written by Pialat and

Arlette Langmann Arlette Langmann (born 3 April 1946) is a French screenwriter, film editor and production designer. Born in Paris to Jewish immigrant parents from Romania and Poland, Langmann is best known for her long-running collaborations with her brother ...

. François Truffaut was one of the film's producers.

Plot

The ten-year-old François is a child of the French

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

system after having been abandoned by his mother before the film begins. At the start of the film, François lives with a foster family - the Joingnys, who have a daughter of similar age to François. François is soon kicked out of this foster home after dropping a cat down a flight of stairs and other cruel acts such as vandalism and theft, although some of François's good character is seen upon his actions in nursing the cat he dropped and giving a gift to his foster mother upon leaving. Back in the foster care system, François is sent to live with the older Thierrys who foster an older boy by the name of Raoul and care for their sickly mother. In this environment, François acts much less troubled and the kindness that was hinted at earlier in the film begins to show through his troubled nature as he helps to care for the elderly Nana. Seemingly content in his new home, François nonetheless gives the viewer a sense that even this placement cannot last forever.

Historical context

Produced in 1968, this film was not intended by the director to be a social film. Although taking place in the year 1968 with student riots overtaking the streets of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, Pialat's film does not delve into the politics of that matter. Giving only a short indication of the demonstrations going on in Paris, Pialat intends instead to give a glimpse into the working class French lives. Pialat, a self-proclaimed conservative, does explore the life of a foster child in detail extending beyond the context of the main character and plot. However, the treatment of social aspects in this film does not take sides but lays the foundation for the intricacies of the issues of the working class and, more thoroughly, the problems of the foster care system in 1960s France for the audience to interpret.

Awards

The film won the Prix Jean Vigo in 1969.

References

External links

*
''L’enfance nue: The Fly in the Ointment''
an essay by

Phillip Lopate Phillip Lopate (born 1943) is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate. Early life Phillip Lopate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a BA degr ...

at the Criterion Collection 1968 films 1968 drama films Films about children French drama films 1960s French-language films Films directed by Maurice Pialat Films produced by Claude Berri 1969 drama films 1969 films 1960s French films {{1960s-France-film-stub