La Femme enfant (1980)
Directed by Raphaële Billetdoux

Film Synopsis

In a small village in the north of France, 11-year-old Elisabeth has a special friendship that her parents know nothing about.  Every day for the last three years, she has been secretly visiting Marcel, a 40-something mute who works as a gardener at a chateau.  Whilst Elisabeth and Marcel have the occasional falling out, they soon patch things up and are in fact the closest of friends.  As they laugh and play together, oblivious to their age difference and what others might think, it seems that nothing can separate them.  Then, one day, Elisabeth discovers that she has been accepted into a prestigious music school in Lille and must soon leave the village.  For Marcel, this news is devastating.  Overcome with grief at the prospect of losing his one true friend, he sees no other way out than to end his life...