Adolescence and Coming of Age in Claude Miller’s Intimist Cinema
Adolescence and Coming of Age in Claude Miller’s Intimist Cinema
This chapter analyses Claude Miller's L'Effrontée/The Impudent Girl (1985) and La Petite voleuse/The Little Thief (1989). These two films share many common features beyond the casting of their main actress. They can be considered as a double portrayal of adolescence in which the two protagonists mirror and complement one another. The films explore a series of related themes which revolve around the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood, the unease of adolescence and the related loss of innocence, the discovery of self, and the quest for identity that this period of life often involves. After placing the films in the context of Miller's filmography and briefly outlining their production contexts, the chapter focuses more specifically on how they illustrate the legacy of the New Wave (especially Truffaut), while exploring some conventions of a typically French genre revived from the 1980s, the 'intimist' period drama.
Keywords: Claude Miller, The Impudent Girl, The Little Thief, adolescence, coming of age, self-discovery, French New Wave, intimist period drama
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