Jean Harlez

The theme of this film is the children's view on the destruction of a working-class area. The loss, for them of the dilapidated alleyways and waste ground where they met up and played. Their anger, their futile revolt against the demolition workers only serve to confirm their powerlessness and status as social outcasts.

As Brussels gears up to host the 1958 Universal Exhibition, the workers of the Marolles follow their own pace and traditions. Among the knife sharpener, the fruit and vegetable seller, the snail vendor, the roving glazier, and the mischievous "ketjes", the old coco merchant serving his last round of licorice lemonade. The vendors work side-by-side in harmony sharing a certain working class philosophy. A precious document on mid-century city life.

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A house being built by young people around a man playing the 32 variations of Beethoven on a piano.

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The voice-over leaves little to the imagination: the aim of the film is to expose the wretched living conditions in the Marolles. In this run-down working-class area in the shadow of the Law Courts, children and adults live on different planets. For the children the street, a courtyard or wasteland are a playground. A site where social housing is to be built is an ideal spot on which to build a camp. While the women do the housework and the men go to work or linger in a bar, the children meet up at their secret location. The accompanying voice-over points out the typical character of the working-class area. Many of the images from this film are also to be found in the full-length film Jean Harlez made about this city neighbourhood (Le chantier des gosses, The kids' building site 1956).

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