Small Change movie storyline. In the town of Thiers, summer of 1976, teachers and parents give their children skills, love, and attention. A teacher has his first child, a single mother hopes to meet Mr. Right, another mom reaches out to Patrick, a motherless lad who is just discovering the opposite sex. Patrick befriends Julien, a new student who lives in poverty with his mother and has a terrible secret. Bruno shows his friends how to chat up girls. Sylvie stages a witty protest against her parents. Brothers give a friend a haircut. A toddler falls from a window and is unhurt. Everybody goes to the cinema. At camp, Martine catches Patrick’s eye. A teacher explains: “Life is hard, but it’s wonderful.”
Small Change (French: L’Argent de Poche) is a 1976 French film directed by François Truffaut about childhood innocence and child abuse. The French title translates as “Pocket Money”, but since there was a Paul Newman movie called Pocket Money, Steven Spielberg suggested the title Small Change for the US release. In English-speaking countries outside North America, the film is known as Pocket Money. The film had a total of 1,810,280 admissions in France, making it one of Truffaut’s most successful films. Only his films The 400 Blows and The Last Metro were more popular in France.
Truffaut had been collecting anecdotes about children since the time of The 400 Blows. Some of the events were autobiographical, like his first kiss. By 1972, the script was only a ten-page synopsis. In the summer of 1974, Truffaut became more serious about the project and started developing it further. He and his co-writer did not create a standard script because he wanted the freedom to improvise. In April 1975, Truffaut did location scouting, settled on the town of Thiers, then started casting. The filming lasted from 17 July until October that same year. The original rough cut was three hours.
Small Change was also entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by the US National Board of Review. The film was popular at the box office, in France, the US, Germany, Scandinavia and Japan. It was the 17th most popular film of the year in France.
Small Change (1976)
Directed by: François Truffaut
Starring: Georges Desmouceaux, Philippe Goldmann, Nicole Félix, Virginie Thévenet, Tania Torrens, Chantal Mercier, Jean-François Stévenin, Katy Carayon, René Barnerias, Annie Chevaldonne, Jeanne Lobre
Screenplay by: François Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman
Production Design by: Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko
Cinematography by: Pierre-William Glenn
Film Editing by: Yann Dedet, Martine Barraqué-Curie
Costume Design by: Monique Dury
Music by: Maurice Jaubert
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: March 17, 1976
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