''Childhoods'' (original title: ''Enfances'') is a 2007 French

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

directed by Yann Le Gal,

Isild Le Besco Isild Le Besco (born 22 November 1982) is a French actress and filmmaker, who is of French and Algerian descent on her mother's side, and Vietnamese and Breton on her father's. She has starred in many films, including '' Sade'' (2000), a Frenc ...

, Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige,

Ismaël Ferroukhi Ismaël Ferroukhi (born 26 June 1962) is a French- Moroccan film director and screenwriter. Ferroukhi was born in Kenitra. He gained exposure with his 1992 short film ''L'Exposé'', which won the Kodak Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Fol ...

, Corinne Garfin and Safy Nebbou. Although a French reference gives its running time as 84 minutes, other resources indicate 80 minutes, with the work, in its entirety, composed of six vignettes, between 10 and 15 minutes in length, each by a different director, depicting formative incidents in the pre-adolescent lives of iconic filmmakers

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

Jacques Tati Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, filmmaker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted 46th (a list of the top 50 was ...

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

and

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

, with each segment structured to resemble its subject's familiar signature style. Written by Yann Le Gal, the director of the Fritz Lang segment, the project was realized during 2006–07 and premiered in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

at the Hamburg Film Festival.

Segments

The film's opening vignette, a namesake of the future director's 1948 film, '' Secret Beyond the Door'', takes place in 1900

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, as Fritz Lang (1890–1976) accidentally discovers, at the age of 10, that his mother who, to spare her children the burden of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, had converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

that year, is

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish. The second segment, "The Gaze of a Child", directed by

, moves to 1924

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in depicting a deeply traumatic moment in the young life of Orson Welles (1915–1985), whose beloved mother dies four days after his ninth birthday. The third story, "Open the Door, Please", directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, is set in 1919 France, portraying an incident during the schooldays of Jacques Tati (1907–1982) who, at 12, was 180 cm early 5' 11" thus distorting the composition of the class photograph being taken with him and his much shorter fellow pupils. Part four, "The Pair of Shoes", directed by

, also set in France, but fourteen years earlier, in 1905, shows Jean Renoir (1894–1979), age 11, vacationing, as usual, at the country estate of his father, renowned painter

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

, when an encounter with a slightly older peasant boy opens his eyes to the hidden meanings of life in the country and also teaches him about the unfairness of

social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...

divisions. Story number five, "Short Night", directed by Corinne Garfin and set in 1907, selects a moment in the life of 8-year-old

(1899–1980), a sensitive child with an unsympathetic and authoritarian mother, who, awakening in the middle of a dark and terrifying night in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

suburb of

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

, calls out in fright, with no one to answer his cries. The final tale, "A Birth", directed by Safy Nebbou, takes place in the Swedish city of

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, giving a portrait of

(1918–2007), age 4, traumatized and unsettled while awaiting the 1922 birth of his sister.

Cast

* Maurice Antoni as

* Maxime Juravliov as

* Virgil Leclaire as

* Max Renaudin Pratt as

* Elsa Zylberstein as

's mother * Pascal Elso as

's father *

Anne Benoît Anne Benoît is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 film and television productions since 1981. Career Benoît was trained at the Conservatoire de Versailles, under the direction of Marcelle Tassencourt. She later attended the Ta ...

as Aline Renoir *

Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...

's mother *

's aunt * Emmanuelle Bercot as

's mother * Vincent Solignac as

's father * Margot Meynard as

's mother * Clotilde Hesme as Gabrielle *

Jonathan Joss Jonathan Joss (December 22, 1965 – June 1, 2025) was an American actor and musician of Native American ancestry. He was best known for his roles as John Redcorn in ''King of the Hill'' and as Chief Ken Hotate in '' Parks and Recreation''. ...

as Dolph Lang

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Childhoods 2000s French-language films French biographical drama films French anthology films 2007 films 2007 biographical drama films Films set in the 1900s Films set in 1924 Films set in 1919 Films about film directors and producers Films about children Films directed by Safy Nebbou 2000s French films Fritz Lang Films about Orson Welles Jacques Tati Cultural depictions of Alfred Hitchcock Ingmar Bergman

Segments

Cast

Further reading

References

External links