Faces of Children
| Faces of Children / Visages d'enfants |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Jacques Feyder |
| Produced by | Dimitri De Zoubaloff & Arthur-Adrien Porchet, Lausanne; Mundus-Film, Lausanne-Paris (C. Schuepbach); Les Grands Films Indépendants, Paris (Aloys de Christen) |
| Written by | Jacques Feyder Françoise Rosay Dimitri De Zoubaloff |
| Starring | Jean Forest |
| Cinematography |
Léonce-Henri Burel Paul Parguel |
| Edited by | Jacques Feyder |
| Distributed by | Les Grands Films Indépendants; Jean de Merly / Étoile-Film |
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Release date
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Running time
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117 minutes |
| Country | France Switzerland |
| Language |
Silent French intertitles |
Faces of Children (French: Visages d'enfants) is a 1925 French-Swiss silent film directed by Jacques Feyder. It tells the story of a young boy whose mother has died and the resentments which develop when his father remarries. It was a notable example of film realism in the silent era, and its psychological drama was integrated with the natural landscapes of Switzerland where much of the film was made on location.
After the death of his wife, Pierre Amsler, the mayor ("président") of the village of Saint-Luc in the mountainous Haut-Valais region of Switzerland, is left to bring up his two children, Jean (c. 10 years old) and Pierrette (c. 5 years old). He sends his son away with his godfather, Canon Taillier, while he remarries with Jeanne Dutois, a widow with a daughter of her own (Arlette). When Canon Taillier breaks the news to Jean of his father's marriage, Jean is upset but promises to try to respect the decision.
When Jean returns home, he becomes resentful of his stepmother Jeanne whom he sees usurping his mother's place, and his feelings find their outlet in his growing hostility towards Arlette. Finding that his spacious bedroom is now occupied by Arlette and Pierrette and that he now has a smaller room, Jean takes the only portrait of his mother to his new room for comfort. While playing with Pierrette, he refuses to let Arlette join them, even though she and Pierrette got along well. When he sees Jeanne take a dress that his mother wore to make dresses for the two girls, he ruins it intentionally and is punished by Pierre for his behavior.
Jean and Arlette now despise each other. One day in winter while travelling in a sled, Jean surreptitiously throws Arlette's beloved childhood doll onto the track. That night, he tricks Arlette into venturing out onto the snow-covered mountain by telling her where her doll fell. Arlette gets lost and takes refuge in a chapel which becomes covered by an avalanche. Stricken with guilt, Jean tells Pierre what he has done, and a search party rescues Arlette from the chapel. Jean is silently reproached by his family for what he did to Arlette. When he turns to his mother's portrait for consolation, it appears faded and distant(implying his mother is disappointed in Jean for his behavior).
Next day Jean writes a letter of apology to his father, saying that he is going away, and he asks Arlette and Pierrette to deliver it. He goes to a nearby stream, where he has seen an image of his mother smiling at him, and prepares to drown himself. The girls tell Jeanne of his departure and she goes in search of him. She finds him just as he falls into the stream, and she wades into the fast-running water to rescue him. As Jeanne comforts him back in his room, Jean finally accepts her as his new mother.
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Wikipedia