More closely associated with adventure films in the postwar years, French filmmaker Henri Decoin switches creative gears with the pleasant "coming-of-age" seriocomedy Clara De Montargis. Michel Francois plays Renaud, a teenaged hitchhiker who thumbs a ride from the very beautiful--and very much older--Clara de Montargis (Ludmilla Tcherina). Instantly falling in love with Clara, Renaud follows her wherever she goes, hoping eventually to consummate the one-sided romance. In the interim, he undergoes several curious adventures, including episodes involving a hammy provincial actor and a gregarious drunkard. Throughout all of this, Clara remains aloof and enigmatic; will Renaud eventually be able to break through her icy veneer and declare his ardor?
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
