Les Grandes Personnes (1961)

A naive 19 year old American girl (Jean Seberg) vacationing in Paris helps take care of an older sophisticated Frenchwoman (Micheline Presle) after a failed suicide attempt. The older woman takes the young girl under her wing but it isn't long before the girl falls under the spell of the man (Maurice Ronet) who drove her mentor to suicide. A poignant coming of age story, this was Seberg's follow up film after Godard's A BOUT DE SOUFFLE the year before. The American girl is so innocent with her simple minded fantasies about love and unequipped to deal with the jaded experienced older couple and as played by the open faced Seberg, we don't want her to get hurt. But we know where the story is going and what inevitably will come to pass. But the older couple aren't villains either, they can't help being who they are although Presle's character appears to be more sincere than Ronet's lothario. The striking B&W images are by Raoul Coutard (JULES AND JIM) and there's a lovely underscore by Germaine Tailleferre. Directed by Jean Valere. With Francoise Prevost.