A Child in the Crowd

Un enfant dans la foule

Director: Gérard Blain
Country: France

1976 | 85 min. | French
Subtitles: German

Cast_ César Chauveau, Claude Cernay, Annie Kovaks, Bernard Soufflet Screenplay_ Gérard Blain, Michel Pérez Camera_ Emmanuel Machuel Producer_ Gérard Blain, Claude Berri Rights_ Paul Blain

Drawing from his own experiences, Gérard Blain tells of growing up in occupied France. A forgotten masterpiece of French cinema.

When he started out as an actor in the early films of François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol, Gérard Blain was considered the "French James Dean". In 1970, he began directing his own films. His third work ›Un enfant dans la foule‹, made in 1976, is set in France during the Second World War. The young Paul is on his own. His parents are absent, along with all ordinary aspects of everyday life. In occupied Paris, he meets German soldiers, for whom he procures cigarettes before joining the Resistance. Blain shows us a harsh world. One, however, where time and again tender moments of compassion arise. ›Un enfant dans la foule‹ was the great discovery of last year's retrospective, which couldn’t take place, so it will be screened this year.

Director

Gérard Blain's directorial debut ›Les Amis‹ won the Golden Leopard in Locarno in 1971. His second feature ›Le Pélican‹ was shown in competition at the Berlinale, and ›Un enfant dans la foule‹ screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. In 2000, he again won the top prize in Locarno with his last film ›Ainsi soit-ils‹.

Screenings

  • Sunday 14.11.202118:00MannheimMACinema Quadrat
  • Wednesday 17.11.202120:15HeidelbergHDKarlstorkino