L'Adolescente (1979)

Set in the 1939 French countryside as war clouds loom over France, a 12 year old girl (Laetitia Chauveau) and her parents (Jacques Weber, Edith Clever) arrive from Paris to spend the summer with her grandmother (Simone Signoret). This will be the summer when the adolescent girl reaches puberty and the first inkling of falling in love. Directed by actress turned director Jeanne Moreau (LUMIERE), this is a lovely coming of age tale that manages to avoid the usual cliches and bring a fresh eye to a child's transition to young womanhood. I'm sure that might be because it was written by two women (Moreau and Henriette Jelinek) and directed by a woman and not some male's fantasy about a young girl's sexual awakening. Although released in France in 1979, it wasn't shown in the U.S. until 1982. A tender and fine film. With Francis Huster, Roger Blin and Michel Blanc.