A young delinquent who needs money sells his story to a scriptwriter who is short of inspiration. Following the thread of the past, the destiny of a child rejected by all is drawn and who, while growing up, has become the bête noire ( black beast in French)of a society which has caught him in the trap they set for misfits .
Such a story could have lead the director into numbing Truffaut territory,but there's a pivotal difference : In "les 400 coups" ,Antoine Doinel's parents were middle-class whereas Daniel ,whose parents were mentally disturbed persons was entrusted to the health and security social services that placed him in a host family;Truffaut's story was a drama ,Daniel's is a tragedy .
It's Patrick Chaput's first effort and it's definitely off the beaten track ; the memories the black sheep of the society sells to the screenwriter are told in flashbacks;although he's got a 132 IQ , Daniel was never given a chance ;his foster mom is tender but the father is a rude brute ; then he is placed in a special school for maladjusted teenagers where everybody works ,the shrink says ,for his own good. After discovering his biological mother is a streetwalker ,his hatred for the society knows no bounds ,and he becomes addicted to heroin ; soon, the money he gets from the screenwriter is not enough anymore ......
"Life itself outdistances imagination ", says the screenwriter who is also in his way a failure ; it was Richard Bohringer's first role; cameos by Eddie Constantine and Bernadette laffont.
