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THE LITTLE THIEF and ALONE Send This Review to a Friend
French director Erick Zonca, whose "The Dreamlife of Angels" revealed him to be a major talent, is no flash in the pan. Two short films, "The Little Thief" and "Alone," paired as a double bill in their American release, reveal his striking ability to capture realistic portrayals of people and places. There is a relentlessness about the way he pursues his characters in their struggles to deal with the lives they have been dealt.
"Alone," written and directed by Zonca and the shorter of the two films (34 minutes), has a more sympathetic character on which to focus. Amelie, played so realistically by Florence Loiret that we can believe she actually exists, is an angry young woman descending into desperation in Paris. She is a mess and can't hold a job. It is hard to see how life can get worse for her, but it does. She is a victim of society and those who would take advantage of her, yet she is also a victim of herself. But Loiret and Zonca make us sympathize with her.
In "The Little Thief" (65 minutes), which covers Orleans and Marseille and which Zonca co-wrote with Virginie Wagon, the protagonist known as S is fired as an apprentice in a bakery. He vows to make money any way he can and becomes involved with criminals. His new job, keeping tabs on a prostitute, leads to other chores. Nicolas Duvauchelle plays S without sentimentality. He isn't likable, yet we are drawn into his exploits and recoil at the dangers he faces in the life into which he has drifted. Yet he is a callous, dangerous young man who needs to learn his lesson before it is too late.
Both these films underscore Zonca's ability to infuse the cinema with raw power and acute observations. New Yorker Films releases.
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