Picasso's Motorcycle

Picasso’s Motorcycle is an endearing, sometimes heart-warming paean to pre-war life in a sleepy, sun-drenched village in the French countryside in the 1930’s. It chronicles the escapades of a precocious group of boys, centering on ten-year-old Daniel, a half-French, half-German orphan being raised by his distant and sometimes brutal uncle, Emile. Put to work in Emile’s shabby bicycle repair shop, Daniel must navigate the often treacherous waters of boyhood initiations to eventually become accepted by his gleefully delinquent peers. As Daniel slowly wins them over with his loyalty, courage, and good character, things begin to change in the quiet hamlet. An unexpected gift of an old motorcycle with a tragically romantic past sets Daniel on the road to becoming a national racing champion – at least in his own mind. Meanwhile, talk of war with Germany looms like a storm cloud over the village, bringing full-scale panic when the German panzers finally cross the frontier and roll nearly unopposed into Paris. When things settle down into the familiar routine of German occupation, Daniel decides to strike out on his own with his motorcycle. With the reluctant blessing of his uncle, Daniel rides out of the village with little more than the clothes on his back, a few francs in his pocket, and a burning desire to make his name as a national motorcycle racing champion. But little does he know, this is just the beginning of his adventures…