''La Voleuse'', meaning 'the thief', is a 1966 Franco-German film directed by

Jean Chapot Jean Chapot (15 November 1930 – 10 April 1998) was a French screenwriter and film director who began his career as an actor. In 1972, he was awarded the Short Film Palme d'Or for his film ''Le fusil à lunette'' at the 25th Cannes Film Festiv ...

, with a screenplay by

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

. In German, the film was titled ''Schornstein Nr. 4'' ("Chimney No. 4"). Set in Germany, it tells the story of a childless couple where the wife (

Romy Schneider Romy Schneider (; born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; 23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was a German-French actress. She began her career in the German genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. From 1955 to 1957, she played the central chara ...

) steals back a little boy she gave away in her teens and the husband (

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

) gradually persuades her that the childless couple who lovingly raised the child have the better claim.

Plot

Werner and Julia, a childless middle-class couple in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, face a crisis. Unable to conceive, Julia wants to reclaim a child she gave away at birth when she was single in her teens. The little boy is now six and lives happily in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

with a childless working-class couple, a Polish immigrant called Radek and his wife. Despite Werner's efforts to dissuade her, she starts stalking the child. As there was no formal adoption, she feels she has a legal as well as a moral right to the boy and one day at the swimming pool she abducts him. Tracing his beloved little boy to Berlin, Radek bursts into the flat and seizes him back. Werner gets Radek arrested at the railway station and regains possession of the lad. It rapidly becomes apparent that not only is Julia's mental balance precarious but she lacks parenting skills. Radek, inconsolable at his loss, climbs a factory chimney and says he will throw himself off if the child is not returned. The media take up the case, with most of the country on the side of the honest couple who raised the boy and against the selfish mother. Shortly before Radek's deadline, Werner persuades Julia to give the boy back, but it is doubtful what kind of marriage is left for the pair.

Cast

– Julia *

– Werner *

Hans Christian Blech Hans Christian Blech (20 February 19155 March 1993) was a German film, stage and television character actor who found success in both Germany and Hollywood. He made his English film debut in the 1951 picture ''Decision Before Dawn''. In this and ...

– Radek *Sonja Schwarz – Radek's wife *Mario Huth – The little boy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voleuse 1966 films 1966 drama films French drama films West German films 1960s French-language films Films set in West Germany 1960s French films