Customer Reviews

Small Change [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've read all the reviews and they all seem to be missing the REAL point of the movie. Sure, it shows some delightfully comedic vignettes about childhood in France (and well, really the nature of childhood), but all of those funny bits like Geoffrey a fait boum and the police chief's daughter with her megaphone "j'ai faim" stand in stark contrast to the outcast Julien Leclerc (please pardon me if that is not precisely his name, but I am relying on my memory on this), who lives in a run down shack on a street where people just did not live and who was regularly abused by the "unseen enemy" of his family members (which yes, you do see in the end).

In this film we see the contrast of the innocence of childhood shattered by the heartbreak of abuse. This was an era where child abuse was just beginning to be dealt with in the media and we see Truffaut giving us intermittent glimpses of a child on his own, finding it hard to stay awake in class because he was forced out of the house for the night, picking up coins that dropped out of people's pockets at a local carnival, and fearing taking his clothes off for the school physical because of the bruises on his body.

I think we do a great disservice to the film and to Truffaut to call it a comedy. There is so much more to it than that.

I first saw "Small Change" when I was only a child myself. At age twelve, I was suffering from serious depression, had a horrible self esteem and was probably at the lowest point in my life ever. This film was just the tonic I needed. The legendary filmmaker, Francois Truffaut, made this film about life through the eyes of children, telling each story with humor, intensity and profound beauty. This film is definitely great for anyone who has suffered childhood trauma. It shows us that we are truly never alone when we suffer injustice, also, that laughter is a universal language we all can relate to.

There are several vignettes told from the point of view of several of the young characters, but the two that stand out for me are about the little girl who claims she was abandoned and left alone in her apartment by her parents (she is actually just a spoiled brat) and proceeds to broadcast this to all of the neighbors via megaphone, and the young boy who lives in an abusive home. These stories were touching and triumphant and they could have truly happened anywhere in the world and would still compel us as audience members. They don't make films like this anymore......

Never mind that the DVD subtitles call the film Pocket Money, which is the literal translation from the French, this Small Change jingles as lyrically as it did on first release in 1976. These children will now be somewhere in their 30s and early 40s, somewhere in France, anonymous probably in their daily lives, but they will always be here, captured being kids by Truffaut in the most unobtrusive way possible. Their daily resilience is most famously depicted in the scene of Gregory fait boum, but their energy, their mischievousness, their innocence and budding, bumbling curiosity about that great mystery, girls is all here too. As a hymn to childhood, including its darker recesses, Small Change will never be bettered and rarely be equaled, and anyone serious about movies and moviemaking should always have it close at hand.

If ever a movie demonstrated a directors affection for the lives and characters of children, "Small Change" is it. This intimate little film is warm, wise and touching, brimming with humanity and imbued with a delightful Gallic flavor. (Highlight: watching little Gregory go: Boum!). Dont miss this gem.

Small Change is a film that describes interactions between different children and their social macrocosm and this leads to different results in their social microcosms, since the children are under the complete control of their guardians. The adults' parenting sometimes leaves the children vulnerable and which is presented in a number of troubling scenes. Despite these perilous situations, the children survive and have to learn how to manage by themselves in order to live a happy life. Nevertheless, the parents do offer affection and love for the children, which aids in their struggle through life. In turn, the children also affect adult rule over them through different actions. Truffaut displays great understanding for children through this film by creating a next to perfect dissection of child development and child psychology that psychologists such as Harlow, Vygotsky and Piaget would call "a functioning experiement in action". Overall, there are several pleasurable moments in the film that are well balanced with the serious occasions, which leaves the audience with a brilliant cinematic experience that is full of wonderful life lessons.

Small Change lets you enter the world of some schoolchildren in a French town. We get to see them go through the joys and pains of childhood as they interact with each other and with the adults in their neighborhood. The viewer gets drawn into the movie and feels like a resident of the town watching the neighbor children experiencing pain and pleasure, joy and sadness, love and rejection. This movie has almost everything that makes a movie great including some very clever scenes. One thing it doesn't have is the kind of storyline that Americans are accustomed to having in films. I suspect that may be the reason one person gave it a bad review.

This episodic story of a year in the life of a group of children and their families in provincial France is one of Truffaut's most delightful films. It's full of gentle humor and poignancy and the kind of understated observation that one associates with Truffaut. I recently saw it for (I believe) the fourth time, and it holds up beautifully. Highly recommended.

~Dan Oliver

While Francois Truffaut made many wonderful films, he was always at his best when filming children. In "Small Change" he deals with many of the same themes as he did in his classic "The 400 Blows." But this time he is capturing the joy of childhood, not the pain. One could say, in fact, that this is "The 400 Blows" with sugar frosting on top. It is a pure delight from beginning to end.

Francois, why did you have to leave us so soon?

As a lifelong lover of foreign films, particularly Truffaut, I can only say that I ENVY those of you who are about to view this film for the first time! I saw it a number of times many years ago and now am purchasing it as a DVD so that I can show it to friends and family and view it as often. A beautiful study of life and little and no so little miracles....relationship...whoever sees this and is not moved needs their head examined...that's all I can say...LOVELY!

This delightful film is funny, compassionate, and realistic. It follows a group of children through a series of semi-related incidents. You get a marvelous feel for their motivations and thought processes. I highly recommend it for the foreign film lover.