My Little Loves is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel

My Little Loves (1974)124 minDramaRating 56/100

Jean Eustache’s second and final narrative feature, MY LITTLE LOVES, follows Daniel (Martin Loeb) as he navigates the bewildering world of early adolescence. Living with his grandmother (Jacqueline Dufranne) in a sleepy village outside Bordeaux, Daniel enjoys a carefree existence with his similarly innocent, though often mischievous, peers. But when his mother (Ingrid Caven) arrives and relocates him to Narbonne, Daniel is prematurely thrust into adulthood: pulled out of school, he is forced to work for a surly mechanic and, left to his own devices, falls in with an older crowd that is far more experienced in dating and sex. Featuring a wonderfully nuanced performance by Loeb, MY LITTLE LOVES is a coming-of-age gem surpassed only by Eustache’s own earlier masterpiece, THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE.

Cast: Martin Loeb, Ingrid Caven, Henri Martinez, Jacqueline Dufranne, Dionys Mascolo, Maurice Pialat, Jacques Romain

Director: Jean Eustache