a direct adaptation. There were just enough elements from the book for us to apply for the rights. First of all the Americans who owned them took ages to reply. Then they wanted a huge sum of money, almost as much as the cost of the film. Two weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin, the rights had not been secured. Miller decided to go ahead and make the movie anyway. "Now we're negotiating to pay a reasonable percentage," he said in 1986. "Fortunately the film has been a hit." Miller cast Gainsbourg after seeing her in the film Paroles et Musiques. He approached her parents for permission to cast her. It helped the marketability of the movie because, as Miller says, "Charlotte was in a way already a star because of her parents - people went to see her out of curiosity." Reception The Guardian said it was "one of Miller's best films since The Best Way to Walk". The film was a success at the box office selling 2,761,141 tickets and was the 11th most attended film of the year at the French box office. Miller later made The Little Thief with Gainsbourg. References External links Review of film at Time Out Magazine 1985 films 1980s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s teen comedy-drama films Films based on works by Carson McCullers Films directed by Claude Miller French coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1980s French-language films French teen comedy-drama films Louis Delluc Prize winners Films about puberty 1980s French films