La Petite voleuse (1988) - film review

1950, in a small French town 16-year old Janine lives with her aunt and uncle after having been abandoned by her mother.  Bored with her dull life, she steals luxury items such as silk scarves before getting caught.  She then gets a poorly paid job as a maid for a wealthy family and soon after starts to have an affair with a married man.  All the time she longs for something better...

This film was developed from a storyline written by François Truffaut in 1983 (shortly after having completed his last film Vivement Dimanche!).  It was taken up by Claude Miller, who worked as Truffaut’s assistant director on a number of his films.  Whether consciously intended or not, François Truffaut’s presence is strangely felt in this film and the film closely resembles his own work in many ways.

Miller has established himself as a fine director in his own right and La Petite voleuse is a respectable piece of French cinema.  It boasts some enchanting photography and an engaging performance from a young Charlotte Gainsbourg, who plays the traumatised teenager Janine to perfection. The film’s strength is its attention to character development - you get to know and care about everyone who appears in this film, even some of the minor characters.

The only unpardonable sin that the film commits is the gratuitous insertion of Pathé newsreel extracts.  Obviously this was intended to give a feel for the times in which the film was set, but all it seems to do is make an unwelcome brash intrusion into an otherwise compelling film.

© James Travers 2000

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