''An Impudent Girl'' (french: L'Effrontée) is a 1985 French film directed by

Claude Miller Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter. Life and career Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his fi ...

. It stars

Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song " Lemo ...

, who won the

César Award for Most Promising Actress The César Award for Most Promising Actress (french: César du meilleur espoir féminin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a ...

, and

Bernadette Lafont Bernadette Lafont (28 October 1938 – 25 July 2013) was a French actress who appeared in more than 120 feature films. She has been considered "the face of French New Wave". In 1999 she told ''The New York Times'' her work was "the motor of my ex ...

, who won the

César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ce ...

. It is a free adaptation of the novel ''Frankie Addams'' (French title of

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

's ''

The Member of the Wedding ''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Marga ...

''). The film won the Louis Delluc Prize, and received César nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Most Promising Actor, Best Writing, Best Costume Design and Best Sound.

Plot

Charlotte Castang is a working-class 13-year-old girl, who lives in a drab, run-down neighbourhood, and is ready to become an adult. Her mother died giving birth to her, and she lives with her crass brother, and her father whose attention is elsewhere. Her only friend is Lulu, a sick 10-year-old she regards as a pest. Charlotte is antisocial, bored and dreams of a better life. Her life improves when she meets Clara Bauman, a pianist prodigy whom she admires. Charlotte wants to be friends with Clara, whom she sees as a potential route to prosperity, while the sophisticated Clara jokingly suggests that Charlotte should become her manager.

Cast

as Charlotte Castang * Clothilde Baudon as Clara Bauman *

Julie Glenn Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

as Lulu *

as Léone *

Jean-Claude Brialy Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director. Early life Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...

as Sam *

Jean-Philippe Écoffey Jean-Philippe Écoffey (born 8 July 1959) is a Swiss actor. He has appeared in more than sixty films since 1985. Selected filmography References External links * 1959 births Living people Swiss male film actors {{Switzerland- ...

as Jean *

Raoul Billerey Raoul Billerey (1920 - 2010) was a French actor. Partial filmography *''The Three Musketeers'' (1953) *''Cadet Rousselle'' (1954) - Un soldat à l'auberge des Trois Pichets / Un garde au Tribunal Révolutionnaire / Un sans-culotte *'' The Impo ...

as Antoine Castang *

Richard Guerry Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

as Regard sombre

Production

The film was seen as a return by Claude Miller to the material of his first feature, '' The Best Way to Walk''. Miller:

I'm fascinated by those violent passions that make you ready to cut your throat for something you believe in, passions that, for better or worse, lose their edge as you grow older. In ''An Impudent Girl'' though the conflict is much less violent than the humiliation and hurt of ''The Best Way to Walk''. The main character comes out of it very well, in fact it's certainly my most optimistic film. I wasn't trying to show a terrible drama, just one of those ordinary events which happen to all adolescents and shape us for life. I'm the proof because I still remember those tiny episodes that ended up affecting me more deeply than I ever realised at the time.The new wave rebels Johnston, Sheila. The Guardian (1959-2003) ondon (UK)03 July 1986: 13.

The film was a loose adaptation of the novel ''

'' by Carson McCullers, although that is uncredited. Miller:

It isn't a direct adaptation. There were just enough elements from the book for us to apply for the rights. First of all the Americans who owned them took ages to reply. Then they wanted a huge sum of money, almost as much as the cost of the film.

Two weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin, the rights had not been secured. Miller decided to go ahead and make the movie anyway. "Now we're negotiating to pay a reasonable percentage," he said in 1986. "Fortunately the film has been a hit." Miller cast Gainsbourg after seeing her in the film ''

Paroles et Musiques ''Paroles'' (; "Words") is a collection of poems by Jacques Prévert, first published in 1946. Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-f ...

''. He approached her parents for permission to cast her. It helped the marketability of the movie because, as Miller says, "Charlotte was in a way already a star because of her parents - people went to see her out of curiosity."

Reception

The ''Guardian'' said it was "one of Miller's best films since ''The Best Way to Walk''". The film was a success at the box office selling 2,761,141 tickets and was the 11th most attended film of the year at the French box office. Miller later made '' The Little Thief'' with Gainsbourg.In the steps of Truffaut: Francois Truffaut never completed his last film project, a variation on Quatre Cent Coups. Now, reports Paul Ryan, Claude Miller has taken it up Ryan, Paul. The Guardian (1959-2003) ondon (UK)23 June 1989: 33.

References

External links

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Review of film
at Time Out Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Impudent Girl 1985 films 1980s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s teen comedy-drama films Films based on works by Carson McCullers Films directed by Claude Miller French coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s French-language films French teen comedy-drama films Louis Delluc Prize winners Films about puberty 1980s French films