A picaresque tale set in nineteenth century France and Italy, La Trace draws on co-scriptwriter Tavernier's fascination with history (The Judge and the Assassin, Let Joy Reign Supreme, see October 19), and the ethnographic documentary experience of director Bernard Favre, whose first fiction feature this is. The story begins in the fall of 1859 in the Kingdom of Savoy, which is about to become a part of France. There, a mountain villager named Joseph Extrassiaz and nicknamed “half-pint” (played by Richard Berry), bids a fond farewell to his wife and children and heads across the Alps toward the roads of Northern Italy, where every winter he hawks his wares. La Trace follows his tracks through one winter as he wanders south, occasionally serving as newscarrier and postman, from village to village and adventure to adventure, and his return home the following spring to discover that he is now a Frenchman. “Favre...is of Savoyard origins and is deeply interested in tracing his roots. He's done so with clarity, respect and discreet feelings.... Tavernier...helped Favre shape his original screenplay and give each scene maximal resonance, since a major aim here is to obliquely illustrate the social changes that are going on around his uncomprehending hero.... Richard Berry confirms his talent and ranges in the difficult central role... His peasant peddler is simple, canny, thickheaded, impertinent and touching” (Variety).