L’enfance nue
Directed by Maurice Pialat • 1968 • France
Starring Michel Terrazon, Marie-Louise Thierry, René Thierry
The singular French director Maurice Pialat puts his distinctive stamp on the lost-youth film with this devastating portrait of a damaged foster child. We watch as ten-year-old François (Michel Terrazon) is shuttled from one home to another, his behavior growing increasingly erratic, his bonds with his surrogate parents perennially fraught. In this, his feature debut, Pialat treats that potentially sentimental scenario with astonishing sobriety and stark realism. With its full-throttle mixture of emotionality and clear-eyed skepticism, L’ENFANCE NUE (NAKED CHILDHOOD) was advance notice of one of the most masterful careers in French cinema, and remains one of Pialat’s finest works.
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L’enfance nue
Directed by Maurice Pialat • 1968 • France
Starring Michel Terrazon, Marie-Louise Thierry, René ThierryThe singular French director Maurice Pialat puts his distinctive stamp on the lost-youth film with this devastating portrait of a damaged foster child. We watch as ten-year-old François (Miche...
Extras
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Autour de "L’enfance nue"
This fifty-minute documentary, shot by Daniel Creusot and Francis Warin, examines both the making of L’ENFANCE NUE and the plight of children in the foster care system. It first aired on the French television program “Choses vues” on January 31, 1969.
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Kent Jones on L’ENFANCE NUE
Kent Jones is the author of "Physical Evidence: Selected Film Criticism" and the executive director of the World Cinema Foundation. Here, he discusses Maurice Pialat's unique visual and narrative approach in L’ENFANCE NUE.
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Maurice Pialat on L’ENFANCE NUE
On February 12, 1973, right after L'ENFANCE NUE first aired on French television, Maurice Pialat was interviewed by Michel Martens for an episode of the program “Champ contre-champ,” directed by Maurice Frydland. In these excerpts, Pialat discusses L'ENFANCE NUE's subject matter, its commercial f...
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Arlette Langmann and Patrick Grandperret on L’ENFANCE NUE
Arlette Langmann is the cowriter of L’ENFANCE NUE and a longtime collaborator of Maurice Pialat's. Patrick Grandperret is a filmmaker who also served as Pialat's assistant director. This interview was conducted by Serge Toubiana on April 18, 2003, shortly after Pialat's death.
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L’amour existe
Directed by Maurice Pialat • 1960 • France
This contemplative short film, directed by Maurice Pialat in 1960, depicts life in the banlieues, or suburbs, of Paris and the dead-end existence of the youth residing there.
