A Season in the Life of Emmanuel, Marie-Claire Blais` novel adaptation, a newborn who witnesses the drastic changes a French family experiences in a brief period of time. One of the Emmanuel brothers, Jean le Maigre, is not like the others. Skinny thirteen years old, disobedient, rebellious, he seems doomed to a different fate. It is through this boy, as marked by the shadow of Rimbaud, the world explodes.