Risky Business

In a small French town a primary schoolteacher is accused of attempting to rape one of his pupils. The gendarmes and the mayor open an inquiry and the teacher denies it. Then two more pupils come forward, one of them saying she was his mistress. The town takes sides fast, the man's wife is left alone, and the case goes to court. In the story the film tells, the accusation is a lie. André Cayatte builds his account to show how a child's statement gets assembled, how quickly a town believes it, and how even acquittal does not restore a reputation. The script draws on the files of lawyers who worked on children's testimony and on real cases of the period. This was Jacques Brel's first feature; he also prepared the music. Emmanuelle Riva plays opposite him.