''The Little Thief'' () is a 1988 French drama directed by

Claude Miller Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter. Life and career Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his f ...

. It is based upon an unfinished script by

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

. Truffaut died before being able to direct the film himself. The film had 1,834,940 admissions in France. Set in the French countryside after the end of World War II, it tells the story of a 15-year-old girl abandoned by her parents, who is looking for love and independence but succumbs to stealing and sleeping with men.

Plot

Janine lives with her uncle and aunt, who have little sympathy for her as her mother left her to go with a lover to Italy and she never knew her father. She dreams of luxury, stealing American cigarettes and expensive underwear from shops. When found out, she leaves to become a live-in maid for the Longuets, a rich and friendly young couple. Tired after a long day's work, in the cinema she falls asleep on the shoulder of Michel, a married man in his forties keen on poetry and music. They start an affair, but he also tries to improve her culture and encourages her to study shorthand-typing. At her course she sees a young intruder robbing the office, but does not inform on him. This is Raoul, who waits outside for her and they too start an affair. He wants money to buy a motor bike for racing, and Janine supplies it by robbing her employers and their guests during a dinner party. The two young criminals go on the run, ending up living rough beside the sea. There Janine is arrested, and sent to a school for young offenders. She and another girl escape, but Janine is now wanted and has nowhere to go. She is also pregnant. After making an appointment with an illegal abortionist, in the cinema she sees a newsreel of soldiers off to the war in Indochina. Among them is Raoul, so she does not keep the appointment and an end caption says that her baby was coming on well.

Cast

Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British and French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the ...

as Janine Castang *

Didier Bezace Didier Bezace (10 February 1946 – 11 March 2020) was a French actor. Life and career Theatre student at the International Dramatic University Centre in Nancy, France, Nancy, Didier Bezace received lessons from Bernard Drot, Jean-Marie Patte, G ...

as Michel Davenne *

Simon de La Brosse Simon de La Brosse (9 October 1964 – 17 April 1998) was a French actor from Suresnes. He started his acting career in the role of Sylvain in Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; ...

as Raoul * Clotilde de Bayser as Severine Longuet *

Raoul Billerey Raoul Billerey (1920 - 2010) was a French actor, stuntman, fencing master and director of combat choreography for French TV, theater and film. Partial filmography *''The Three Musketeers'' (1953) *''Cadet Rousselle'' (1954) - Un soldat à l'au ...

as Oncle André Rouleau * Chantal Manlier as Tante Léa *

Nathalie Cardone Nathalie Cardone (born 29 March 1967 in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) is a French actress and singer. Biography Cardone was born in Pau, in South-West France. Her father was Sicilian and her mother Spanish. She appeared for the first time on ...

as Mauricette *

Renée Faure Renée Faure (born Reneé Paule Nanine Faure; November 4, 1918 – May 2, 2005) was a French stage and film actress. Early life Renée Faure was born Reneé Paule Nanine Faure on November 4, 1918, in Paris, France. Her father was René Fau ...

as Mère Busato *

Chantal Neuwirth Chantal Neuwirth (born 1948) is a French actress, who also played on theatre. She's been nominated three times to the Molière Awards : in 1999 for ''Rêver peut-être'', in 2000 for ''Les Nouvelles Brèves de comptoir'' and in 2004 for ''Portr ...

as The farmer * Catherine Arditi as School director *

Dominique Besnehard Dominique Besnehard (; born 5 February 1954) is a French actor, film producer, casting director, writer and talent manager. He has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows since 1975. He starred in the 1983 film '' À nos amours'', wh ...

Jacky Nercessian Jacky Nercessian (or ''Nersessian'' (), born November 16, 1950) is a French actor who is ethnically Armenian. One of his most known roles is Apkar in '' Mayrig'' by Henri Verneuil. Biography Nercessian was born in 1950 in Saint-Etienne. He g ...

Release

''The Little Thief'' was released in 1988 in France.

References

External links

* * 1989 films 1989 drama films French drama films 1980s French-language films Films directed by Claude Miller Films with screenplays by François Truffaut Films produced by Claude Berri Films set in 1950 Teenage pregnancy in film Films about juvenile sexuality 1980s French films {{1980s-France-film-stub