Life is pretty grim for the boy in this story. School holds no pleasures, his mother is a drunk, and his stepfather is a real pill. It's no surprise that he plays hooky sometimes. One day he discovers that he has an older sister. Consumed with a desire to find her, he uses his stepfather's pistol to hold up a store for money for his quest and then takes a policeman hostage. The policeman helps him find his sister, and the young woman whom he has never met before is surprisingly willing to try and help him get out of trouble and away from his depressing family. This drama is filmed in a sensitive and unusual fashion and won all sorts of French and European film-making awards, including the Prix Louis-Delluc. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi