This is a beautiful movie. It portrays the drama of childhood very realistically and accurately captures the workings of children's minds as they try to make sense of a world that seems tremendously confusing at times. The film deals with all aspects of childhood, from school cafeterias to child abuse, without much adult interpretation of the events. For the most part Truffault is an observer who simply takes the world of these children for what it is: an incomplete, thus innocent, mysterious reality to be figured out by the children in due time. The only time in the movie where he does not do this is the speech by the teacher towards the end of the movie about childrens' rights and the formation of a childrens' political party or some such nonsense (very French--I suppose all French movies must have a "French" moment or two, so all is forgiven).
That having been said, this movie is brilliant and Truffault remains a master, in my eyes.
That having been said, this movie is brilliant and Truffault remains a master, in my eyes.