BT-04. Standing Tall

France, 119 min., Feature Narrative

?He’s a little monster,? says six-year-old Malony’s drug-addled mother as she abandons him to the care of Florence Blaque (Catherine Deneuve), a sympathetic juvenile court judge. Over the coming decade, Blaque serves as a sort of foster mother?not in a traditional adoptive sense, but by her unshaking commitment to his case. She enlists the help of Yann, a caseworker and himself the survivor of a very difficult childhood. Together they follow the boy’s wild journey and try unfailingly to save him, time after time. This film is viewed through the prism of a socialism-inclined country like France, which expends huge amounts of money and effort to keep their troubled children out of prison. (They figure it’s cheaper in the long run.)