The Adolescent

The Adolescent is a French drama that Jeanne Moreau both wrote and directed, marking her turn behind the camera after a long acting career. The story unfolds in the summer just before the outbreak of the Second World War, in a secluded village tucked into the mountains of the Auvergne region.

A Parisian family travels there to spend a holiday with relatives, and the extended gathering becomes the backdrop for a quiet family drama. At its center is Marie, a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, whose experiences that summer among her relatives and the rural landscape mark her passage out of childhood.

The picture captures a vanishing rural way of life on the eve of war, contrasting its calm rhythms with the historical storm about to break over Europe. Produced as a joint venture between France and Germany, the film premiered in the winter of 1979 and was selected for competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, a recognition that affirmed Moreau's abilities as a filmmaker beyond her celebrated screen career.