Small Change (L'argent de poche)

Filmed in Thiers in South Central France, each vignette of this episodic comedy/drama is seen from the point of view of a kid from two weeks to 14 years old. There is no real plot, just little scenes flowing together that deal with personal joys and pains of the children in a small town. Patrick (Georges Desmouceaux) discovers girls and helps care for his father; Sylvie (Sylvie Grizel) rebels against her parents; and Julien (Philippe Goldmann) comes from a painful home life. Although mostly focused on the perspectives of children, the film provides adults with some screen time to share their wisdom.

Calling “Small Change” a “magical film,” Roger Ebert notes that the director “recreates childhood, and yet he sees it objectively, too: He remembers not only the funny moments but the painful ones…. Truffaut has been over some of this ground before. His first feature, ‘The 400 Blows,’ told the painful story of a Paris adolescent caught between his warring parents and his own better nature. In ‘Small Change’ he returns to similar material in a sunnier mood.”