Versailles (2008)

A young woman abandons her child out of love in this emotional drama from France. Nina (Judith Chemla) is a single mother who is deeply devoted to her son, five-year-old Enzo (Max Baissette de Malglaive). Nina is also homeless, and has grown weary of dealing with government service agencies that are supposed to help her regain control of her life but instead just make her jump through hoops. One day, Nina happens to meet Damien (Guillaume Depardieu), who lives in an isolated cottage in the forests of Versailles. Damien offers to let Nina and Enzo stay with him for the night, and before the dawn, Nina has run away. Nina's plan is to use some time on her own to put her life back on track and reclaim Enzo once she has a job and a place to stay. However, Damien is a former criminal with a short temper and little use for others, and while he feels genuine compassion for Nina and Enzo, he's convinced he's not cut out to be the child's guardian. The longer Damien is with Enzo, the more he comes to care for the boy, so he sets out to mend fences with his dad (Patrick Descamps), who he hasn't spoken with in years, in hopes of giving the boy the sort of father figure he deserves. Versailles was the first directorial project for veteran screenwriter Pierre Schoeller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi