"The Little Thief" is a French film co-written by Francois Truffaut shortly before his untimely death, and it somehow captures very well the spirit of the late filmmaker in this story of a troubled young woman's unhappy journey into adulthood.
Resembling Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series, though the protagonist is female, "The Little Thief" is set in 1950 and follows the difficulties encountered by 16-year-old Janine (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a compulsive thief and liar.
Abandoned when she was quite young by her flighty mother, Janine has been raised in a small village by her cynical, unhappy aunt. Unable to stop stealing, Janine is confronted in her aunt's home by one of her victims, a local merchant. But her real shame comes when she is caught robbing the local church.
Janine drops out of school, leaves the village in disgrace and gets a job in the city as a housemaid. She begins an affair with an older married man, later takes up with an aimless bike-racer and, with his encouragement, robs her boss. It isn't long before she's in reform school.
Running down the plot here makes "The Little Thief" sound relentlessly downbeat and hopeless, and in some ways it is, but along the way there are many pleasures, bright little insights about human nature and how unhappiness can make people self-destructive.
The performances are very good, in particular Gainsbourg, who is required to be sullen and moody, yet show a spark beneath the surface, which she accomplishes quite satisfactorily.
"The Little Thief" is rated R for some violence, sex, nudity and profanity.