SMALL CHANGE / L’ARGENT DE POCHE (1976)

L’ARGENT DE POCHE (literally POCKET MONEY, a title already used by an unrelated 1972 Paul Newman/Lee Marvin pic, hence SMALL CHANGE as the English title) shows Francois Truffaut in the loosest mode of his late works & it looks better than ever.  We get to know a passel of kids as they hop, skip & bump into the small but real crises of school & home in those "near-puberty" years.  Truffaut doesn’t overwork anything; the kids are all screen naturals, but not stars, which only adds to audience identification & enchantment.  A facile explication on an abused boy’s anti-social behavior is too pat, but even here the visual observations are breathtakingly accurate.  And a spark of pure Leo McCarey slapstick fizzes up from all the kids.  If you don't mind allusions to farcical sex jokes and don't feel prudish, it's a great film for introducing sub-titles to 'tweens'.  They'll want to read every line.