L’Argent de poche (1976) - film review

In the picturesque French town of Thiers, several primary school children are learning some important lessons in life as the end of the school term approaches.  Patrick, who lives alone with his invalid father, discovers an inexplicable attraction for the local hairdresser, the mother of his best friend, Laurent.  Sylvie is a strong-willed little madam who mobilises her neighbours to help her when her parents leave her alone at home one Sunday afternoon.  Julien is a scruffy delinquent who finds it hard to settle at school and spends a lot of his time walking the streets and thieving.  It isn’t easy being a child...

In between his lavish period dramas and romantic comedies, François Truffaut made a slight detour in the mid-1970s with this almost documentary-style portrait of young school children at play in a small provincial town.  The subject of childhood is one which appealed greatly to Truffaut and features in many of his other films, notably Les Quatre cents coups (1959), L’Enfant sauvage (1969) and his early short film Les Mistons (1958).  Truffaut’s own childhood was marked by rejection and brutality - he never met his own biological father and his mother virtually disowned him – and this is reflected in his work.  As L’Argent de poche amply bears out, Truffaut was gifted with a far deeper understanding of children than most film directors – and this at least partly accounts for the acute sense of humanity in his films.

Truffaut’s love of children and ability to work with them allows him to create a work of great tenderness and sensitivity.  The content of the film evolved in the course of a number of weeks over which the director watched how children behaved and interacted.  This explains the film’s tireless spontaneity and sense of realism, offering an adult spectator a fascinating exploration of another world.  The film contains numerous lessons in child psychology and ought to be essential viewing for anyone who has children or who wants to become a primary school teacher.  It is also a hugely entertaining film, with some great comic situations – and also some moments of nail-biting suspense.

Among the themes covered in the film, the one which is handled most forcefully is the notion that adults have a duty of care towards their children.   This is an issue which was very close to Truffaut’s heart and it is not hard to glimpse his own experiences through the moving story of the ragamuffin scamp Julien Leclou.  The beautiful monologue delivered by Jean-François Stévenin (playing the male school teacher) makes as valuable a contribution to the rights of the child as the campaigning undertaken by Truffaut outside of his film work.

When it was first released in 1976, L’Argent de poche proved to be a hugely popular film in France and abroad.  It was a much need commercial success for Truffaut after the staggering failure of his period piece, L’Histoire d’Adèle H.  There are close similarities between this film and Nicolas Philibert’s 2001 documentary Être et avoir – both magically transport the spectator into the minds of the children they portray, both won critical acclaim for their directors, and both proved to surprising box office successes.

© James Travers 2003


The film begins in a town that marks the center of France; a little girl sends a postcard to her friend, and the boy who receives it reads it while in class.  This then sets the story which mainly focuses on a few individual stories of the French children who live in the town.  Although the stories of the individuals vary in emotion and seriousness, L’argent de poche generally depicts the adventures children have while growing up.

One of the most memorable scenes of the L’argent de poche is when a toddler climbs on a chair and falls off a multiple-storey building while his mother searches for her missing wallet elsewhere.  Perhaps the most afflicting story was that of the young boy who was mistreated by his mother.  Ultimately, it seems as if justice is served once the school administrators discover his tragic home life and take legal action, but it is obvious that the boy’s psychological scars will possibly never completely fade.

L’argent de poche is a sweet tale of childhood. Life can be hard at times, but the film definitely teaches us that there will always be a dark side as well as a bright side to every sitaution.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone wishing to be entertained by a depiction of young French life.

© Leslie Araujo (Phoenix, Arizona, United States) 2011

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The film explores the lives of school children as they go through the school year.  By having so many different points of view, more ideas can be expressed.  There is a romantic storyline as some of the kids experience their first kiss.  It also sheds some light on child neglect and the dangers of it.  The film also exposes the dangers of ignoring children who seem slightly off or out of touch; one of the main characters has a disconnect with his classmates, which mostly everyone ignores, but in the end of the film it’s revealed that he was a victim of child abuse. The film also displays the interactions between children and adults and how adults often do not consider adults their equals.  There is a documentary approach in the film which helps to give it more of a realistic essence beyond a regular film.
Alexandra Barbsoa (Phoenix, USA)

L’argent de poche is the story of Julien, a young boy that suffers abuse at home, and manages his personal life with that of school. This story is a mix of humor and drama. The most intense storyline is layered with the humorous stories of the lives of some of Julien’s classmates.  The story is vivid and humourous where it is needed, but is able to become serious when it is needed. This film provides different views for children living in France.  This story provides good humor and conveys a serious message about childhood at the same time.
Ana Moya (Phoenix, Arizona)

L’argent de poche is a film about young children left to themselves and the ordeals they create for themselves. The children amuse themselves however they please when out of the watchful eyes of adults - telling dirty jokes, selling their schoolbooks for pocket money, flirting with girls, etc. The adults in the town are shown to be centered around the children, caring for them and guiding them through their lives.
Emma W (Phoenix, USA)

L’argent de poche follows the lives of several elementary school children. Each of them is trying to get more things than he or she already has. Most of the children have loving homes with parents that care and love them. Then a student is sent by welfare to the school. The children all find ways to make pocket money, yet the new student has a secret no one knows about. His situation is later revealed and it really puts into perspective how blessed the other students are in having loving homes.
Gabriella R (United States)

The film focuses on the lives of children and how they go through happy and funny experiences, but it also demonstrates the hardships of being a child.  The film is made up of the different experiences of different children.  For example there is Patrick who takes care of his disabled father, goes to shcool, and his first experience with dating. There are humorous scenes such as a kid telling a dirty joke or a girl convincing her neighbors to give her food because her parents left her alone and with nothing to eat when in reality she refused to go because she could not take her bag along.  Not everything is funny becaue the director also demonstrates the dangers and responsibilities children face. Throughout the film there is the story of Julien, a boy who lives in an abusive home. In the end one of the teachers in the film talks about the hardships of being a child because they cannot stop what their parents do to them, and he also talks about being resilient. The film ends with a hopeful message because one of the characters has his first kiss and his first experience with love.
Brenda Anaya (Phoenix, United States)

There is a group of kids who go to school.  There is one boy who is late to class, Patrick. A new student, Julien, comes and he looks poor. At the end of the film we find out that he was abused at home.  A teacher moves to an appartment complex and some of the boys he teaches live there. He and his wife are expecting their first child.
Diana (US)

This film covers the life of a young boy named Patrick living in France and his escapades during his middle school years.  Patrick meets a boy who was newly transferred to his school named Leclou.  When Patrick tries to get to know him, he is given the cold shoulder and quickly learns that Leclou is a very reserved, shy and quiet boy who mostly keeps to himself.  The movie splits into two different directions, following Patrick and Leclou separately.  Patrick desperately tries to get the attention of one of his friends’ mothers, eventually getting her beautiful roses, yet she remains oblivious to his attraction and dismisses them as trivial.  Leclou, meanwhile, gets into all sorts of trouble, such as sneaking into a movie theater without buying a ticket.  The audience begins to learn that there is something wrong with Leclou, because there is a scene in which he spends the night in town and goes through the streets picking up small coins.  Then one day, the school has a mandatory physical checkup, during which the doctor discovers that Leclou is the victim of chronic and repetitive physical abuse.  Leclou’s parents are arrested and he is left to welfare to take care of him.
Andrew Herschfelt (Phoenix / Arizona)

The film itself seems to have segmented stories with small subplots and the true overarching  story seems to arise in the end.   In the film we see several characters, from an unfortunate but conniving child, to a teacher who is taking his first steps into the life of fatherhood. The true genius of the story arises when the stories begin overlapping with each other, for example when the teachers found out about the boy’s abusive parents, their lives were completely changed and the female teacher even learned the importance of viewing the student’s life not only in the school, but outside as well. In the end it is a combination of several anecdotes in a span of one school year.
Mario Perez (Phoenix / Arizona)

The film is an overarching plot hidden inside several anecdotes of both school children and teachers in a small town. The true story begins when the lives of the children and the teachers collide with each other resulting in the dramatic but sometimes humorous story of school children, their parents and the teachers who try to teach the students. Even though this film is mainly dramatic, for example Julien who spent his time in the streets stealing from people after leaving the house of his abusive family. The movie focuses on him a lot and ultimately by the end of the film he becomes the film’s symbol of hope since he is moved to a new family, however we never truly find out whether the child will live happily ever after, or whether his new family is worse. Through the film one can see the true evil of children, for example the two brothers who would cut a poor child’s hair, while also seeing the innocence of the children.
Mario Perez (Phoenix / Arizona) 

L’argent de poche is the story of a few kids who go to school and create mischief for their teachers.  After some of the school year passes, a student named Julien enters the school, because he is a special case.  He, along with the other kids in the school make the film what it is: a great mix or drama, humor and, overall, a very interesting movie.  The film shows segments of most of the main children character’s lives and this leads to some interesting events, including some danger with a baby, a very funny time at the movie theater, and some hair disasters. The story also focuses on the teachers, as they have some interesting events of their own in this very funny, very interesting movie.
Roberto Carrasco (Phoenix, Arizona, United States)

The movie is about a group of kids and their daily lives as they begin to go through puberty. Most of the kids in the movie are around eleven I believe and they are really funny.  One of the main kids is abused, but does not reveal this to anyone. The boy steals things from the other kids and tries to make money any way he can. At the end of the movie, when the kids are subjected to a checkup, the nurses are shocked to find his body covered in scars. The boy’s grandmother and mother are arrested and taken to jail for abuse.  The other main kid spends the whole movie fantasizing about girls but is too shy to really talk to any of them. He takes a liking to his friend’s mother and stares at her often. The boy finally kisses a girl at the end of the movie symbolizing some growth in his character.
Benjamin Oaks (Phoenix, USA)

L’Argent de poche, literally Pocket Money, is a story about several people and how they are connected. A troubled, financially deprived boy steals in order to better his life. His mother beats him and sometimes does not even let him enter the house. His new teacher does not realize this since she has a full class of boys. In this class, some of the boys do mischievous things, disobey their parents, etc. The girls who attend that school also do troublesome things, like lie about being mistreated at home just to get free food from neighbors. The baby brother of one of the boys climbs out of the window from a tall apartment complex and falls, to the horror of his mother below, and to the audience watching the movie. One of the teachers of that school also moves into the same apartment complex, and weeks later his wife gives birth to a baby. This movie tells several stories that are all somehow connected, even when it seems that they do not.
Karla Benitez (Phoenix, Arizona, United States)

The film tell the tales of some children who attend school in a city in France. The main character is a small boy who has a difficult life in school and away from school.  In school he has trouble adapting to the life of a ’normal child’ like his classmates who have a loving family and who have a meal on their table every night. At home he has trouble because his mother and grandma abuse him both verbally and physically. One day during a school physical, the nurses notice that he has bruises and contact the police. The police then arrest his mother and grandma and he is put in a shelter home where he waits to get adopted. The movie shows us that after every storm there is light of salvation.
Yahir Mendoza (Phoenix  AZ)

This is an amazing film!  It reminds me of the movie Crash, but humorous. The movie involves several characters ranging in ages from youngsters who can barely talk to adults.  Through various trials and tribulations, the characters grow to know the importance of love and friendship. Watching the young boys in the school cuss and be perverted, as most young boys are, I couldn't help but laugh. The children make the movie such a high ranking one because of their humor and hilarious actions. However, the vital message conveyed at the end, was powerful but didn't necessarily fit.  Child abuse is still present everywhere in the world, and because of that, I feel the director and writers added something very powerful.
Chanel Thomas  (Phoenix, US) 

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