5, 185-188 The 400 Blows, The Adventures of Antoine Doinel
- denti alligator
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- colinr0380
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- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
The Moon In The Gutter blog talks about the Antoine Doinel films.
- tryavna
- Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
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The other films are well worth getting, too -- especially Stolen Kisses.denti alligator wrote:Thanks. I guess this requires an email to Criterion to correct their web site. I would buy the single disc if it had the short. Now I'll have to wait till I feel like spending a lot of money on the rest of the films.
- malcolm1980
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I agree that Love on the Run does play more like a clip show than a movie. But still, I think the box-set is worth it for The 400 Blows, Antoine and Collette and Stolen Kisses alone. Not to mention Les Mistons and all those goodies.
Although, I can't help but wonder: If Truffaut were still alive, do you guys think he would've made another Antoine Doinel picture showing him what he's like in middle-age and such? Just wondering.
Although, I can't help but wonder: If Truffaut were still alive, do you guys think he would've made another Antoine Doinel picture showing him what he's like in middle-age and such? Just wondering.
- Nuno
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I remember him in a french show (you can watch in the extras) saying that he didn't want to do more Doinel movies. But who can tell?malcolm1980 wrote:If Truffaut were still alive, do you guys think he would've made another Antoine Doinel picture showing him what he's like in middle-age and such? Just wondering.
- miless
- Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm
he said the same thing after Bed And Board.Nuno wrote:I remember him in a french show (you can watch in the extras) saying that he didn't want to do more Doinel movies. But who can tell?malcolm1980 wrote:If Truffaut were still alive, do you guys think he would've made another Antoine Doinel picture showing him what he's like in middle-age and such? Just wondering.
- Magic Hate Ball
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- Location: Seattle, WA
- Mr Buttle
- Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:27 am
Based on my limited experience here in this forum, I don't think you are at any great risk of attack just for politely stating your opinion. I would, however, urge you not to dismiss this film so quickly and suggest revisiting it a year or more from now, perhaps when you have seen more films indicating how far-reaching its influence really has been or when you are more in touch with Truffaut's artistic voice (I hope that doesn't sound too presumptuous). Also, watching the other Doinel films (which are slightly hit-and-miss but well worth your time) will help endear The 400 Blows to your heart… unless you just don't have a heart you cold, insensitive bastard.
- Magic Hate Ball
- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:15 pm
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I understand your point - it doesn't scream "Great Film" while you watch it, but for me that's one of its primary charms - the ease with which it assumes a place in your heart and mind (well, mine at least) and won't go away. This is one of the best films about adolescence because it doesn't wallow in self-pity or resort to stridencies and absolutes; instead, it seems like the best friend you might've never had but always wanted.
I infinitely prefer it to Jules & Jim, which to me is all about striking poses. 400 Blows has just about the biggest heart in all of cinema.
I infinitely prefer it to Jules & Jim, which to me is all about striking poses. 400 Blows has just about the biggest heart in all of cinema.
- skuhn8
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:46 pm
- Location: Chico, CA
Ok ok, you don't like the film that much. In your opinion it is neither a great nor an amazing film. In my opinion it is absolutely fucking amazing. The pacing is perfect, the characters are gripping, not to mention the cinematography, the soundtrack and the final shot that brilliantly burns into my mind and would have made me wonder for the next three years whatever became of our lovable little tramp-to-be had I seen it in the cinema upon release and not in a box that I marathoned through in one weekend.Magic Hate Ball wrote:I understand the wave of influence and all that stuff, but a wave does not a great film make. I liked the cinematography and the plot, but it wasn't an incredible film. Worthy of being a Criterion, but not fucking amazing or anything like that. Overall, it has the vague smell of a first film.
As to the general idea of not liking a 'recognized masterpiece', I think there was a thread dedicated to just such a topic. Probably every one here can list a couple masterpieces that left them unimpressed. No crime. At most you'll get recomendations to watch it again....which is precisely what I'd suggest with 400 Blows. Pop open a bottle of cab, get some good cheese and make an experience of it.
- Magic Hate Ball
- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:15 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
I kill puppies for fun.LeeB.Sims wrote:unless you just don't have a heart you cold, insensitive bastard.
Cool, this'll give me a chance to try out my new fake ID.skuhn8 wrote:Pop open a bottle of cab, get some good cheese and make an experience of it.
This is tremendously true for me. Every once in a while I think about the end of it, and then I think about the beginning and middle of it. This is a very good movie.you gotta be kidding me wrote:the ease with which it assumes a place in your heart and mind (well, mine at least) and won't go away.
- Awesome Welles
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:02 am
- Location: London
Does anyone know what the music is that plays throughout Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board? Here's a reminder is anyone has forgotten.
- v_konigsberg
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- Shrew
- The Untamed One
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I think Bed and Board is good myself. It's not as good as Stolen Kisses or The 400 Blows, but I found it enjoyable enough, and it has a Monsieur Hulot cameo. It extends the sort-of vignette approach of Stolen Kisses, depicting Antoine trying out several jobs and conversing with the various characters in his apartment complex. And if you liked Claude Jade in Stolen Kisses she has larger role here, looking just as good. I honestly don't know why this film gets such a bad rap in this thread.
Love on the Run on the other hand is simply awful. Half the film is flashback, which might have been tolerable in the age before home video, but in a boxset you can blow throw in a week it's excruciating. And the other half becomes Collete's film as much as it is Antoine's, breaking away from the largely first-person narrative of the previous films (made worse because I really hate Collete's (Pisier's) voice). It would be fine if something interesting came of it, but neither plot goes much of anywhere and the film is terribly unsatisfying. The only things I liked were the catchy theme song and the end credits.
Love on the Run on the other hand is simply awful. Half the film is flashback, which might have been tolerable in the age before home video, but in a boxset you can blow throw in a week it's excruciating. And the other half becomes Collete's film as much as it is Antoine's, breaking away from the largely first-person narrative of the previous films (made worse because I really hate Collete's (Pisier's) voice). It would be fine if something interesting came of it, but neither plot goes much of anywhere and the film is terribly unsatisfying. The only things I liked were the catchy theme song and the end credits.
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Not only that but the set up to where Doinel gets has job working those boats is a total homage to that scene in Playtime where Hulot is sitting in that glass-walled waiting room. I thought that I was imagining this at first because no one ever remarks on it but that coupled with the fact that Doinel's boss is played by the loud mouth American from the Royal Garden seemed to confirm that there is more Tati here than just that cameo (which is not actually played by Tati).Shrew wrote:and it has a Monsieur Hulot cameo.
I can't figure this out either--if one likes Stolen Kisses, I can't see how one can't like Bed and Board...I can even kind of tolerate Love on the Run but only a little. I mean, it is a fucking clip show for the most part.Shrew wrote:I honestly don't know why this film gets such a bad rap in this thread.
- TheRanchHand
- Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:18 am
- Location: Los Angeles
Unfortunately, for me, these films did not live up to my expectations. I almost bought the set a year ago as its reputation was so good, but I found the 400 Blows, though well made, to be something I doubt I would ever watch again. I watched the next two over the year and was no more fascinated by them.
I know that I love some films that others just can't relate to, but this series (or at least the first half) was one for me that I know didn't merit a second glance.
I know that I love some films that others just can't relate to, but this series (or at least the first half) was one for me that I know didn't merit a second glance.
- HerrSchreck
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- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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- GringoTex
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- tryavna
- Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
- Location: North Carolina
I think I agree with Domino in the case of Bed and Board. (I actually really enjoy Stolen Kisses, and Love on the Run has numerous other problems besides this one.) Bed and Board is a well-crafted film and very similar to Stolen Kisses in terms of style, content, and point of view. The problem for me is that the Doinel character is just kind of a jerk by the time we get to Bed and Board -- especially in the terms that Domino lays out. I also think that the overly complicated way that the wife finds out about -- and then reacts to -- Doinel's extramarital affair is entirely miscalculated and clumsy. (It's also not particularly politically correct, but that's another issue altogether.)domino harvey wrote:The problem I have with the last three parts of the cycle is a rare moral one: the films are so strangely stacked against the wife, even though she's the only likable character. In the last film, when everything works out great for everyone but her, that pretty much said it all.
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God, that's an odd scene. I don't know whether it is supposed to be funny or cringe-inducing. And yes, he is a complete spoiled brat which is odd considering that, from what we have already seen, we know that he has no reason to be like this. He is just a total jerk.tryavna wrote: I also think that the overly complicated way that the wife finds out about -- and then reacts to -- Doinel's extramarital affair is entirely miscalculated and clumsy.
I should mention that I find Doinel completely likable in Stolen Kisses though. I even find him likable in Bed and Board as he does all of those awful things.
- jt
- Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:47 am
- Location: zurich
I saw 400 Blows for the first time last night and wasn't really blown away by it. Sure, the acting was good and the whole film has a nice lyrical feel to it but I was left wondering what raised its reputation from 'very good' to 'masterpiece'.
Also, this probably belongs in the nitpicking thread but did anyone else find that 2 minute scene of the kid repeatedly getting ink on his book and ripping the page out again and again and AGAIN the most grating in the history of cinema..?
Also, this probably belongs in the nitpicking thread but did anyone else find that 2 minute scene of the kid repeatedly getting ink on his book and ripping the page out again and again and AGAIN the most grating in the history of cinema..?