Naked Childhood

The film plays like the work of a bitterly angry man, and, indeed, the set was a battleground for cast and crew... Co-produced by François Truffaut, to whose “400 Blows” Pialat’s film is perhaps the only worthy successor.

[Maurice] Pialat is doing something that movies rarely do any more: tell a simple, touching story warmly, straight.

Maurice Pialat's first feature film is an unmistakable and strong link to the elliptical, almost-vrit tradition of contemporary filmmaking

No frills, just facts as the film hurtles along with breakneck efficiency.