A Child in the Crowd

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