L'Effrontee
This sweet, sad movie about the yearning of an adolescent girl brought  acclaim to French starlet Charlotte Gainsbourg. Thirteen-year-old  Charlotte (Gainsbourg) bickers with her family, has become an outcast at  school, and generally feels that her life lacks all beauty and happiness.  When she accidentally meets a beatific young piano prodigy named Clara,  Charlotte hopes this girl will become her friend and take her away to a  better world--but in order to worm her way into Clara's life, Charlotte  lets a creepy sailor into hers. Director Claude Miller (Alias  Betty,The Accompanist) formerly worked with François Truffaut,  whose influence can be seen here--L'Effrontéehas a light, relaxed  tone that allows small, human details to emerge without apparent effort.  Gainsbourg gives a winning performance, mostly by letting Charlotte be  sullen, difficult, and innnocently self-deluding; she feels remarkably  real.--Bret Fetzer